The Spell Swords
by Vitezo
Summary: Magic, Faith and Love clash, as two halfDrow fighter mages who serve Elistraee, go on a holy quest to bring a Drow ranger named Drizzt into the loving embrace of the Dark Maiden.
1. The Swords

The Spell-Swords

The four blades rose and fell in harmony, perfectly matching the moves of the two combatants. The 70 centimeter long slightly curved blades wove together to create a spectacular shimmering dance of reflected light. The clang of metal on metal was alike to the sound of well tuned bells. The flutes that comprised the hilts of the four blades whistled a fast pace melody matching the guiding beat of metallic clashes.

Jalen ducked yet another fast swipe from the right aimed at his head, his blade intercepted Kinara's, ringing sweetly. He angled the curved swords so that Kinara's blade rose higher than was intended. Dropping to balance on one bent knee he snapped his leg forwards and upwards aiming for his lady's abdomen.

The agile Half-Drow quickly spun and reversed the angle of her second blade sending it jabbing for her lover's face.

The move caught Jalen by surprise, he quickly kicked his second foot from under him laying flat on his back and began rolling away, he knew that to rise without a blade leading would mean to lose the sparring match.

After two rolls he kicked his left leg to the right while on his back. The move gave him the momentum he needed to rise to his knees. both blades twirled around him as he spun blocking two blows before he even fully settled. Jalen snapped his blades again quickly forcing Kinara back a step and stood up fully. A wide smile appeared on two dark faces.

Kinara wiped her face with a delicate yet callused hand and tucked a lock of her platinum blond hair behind her ear. She stared at her handsome Half-Drow companion, how she loved him, with a passion to match the love she held for the Dark Maiden herself.

Jalen also looked deep into his companions Dark green eyes, the intensity of their relationship frightened him sometimes, he knew that they would wed soon.

The moment of tranquility stopped and the Sword-Dance began anew.

Just as Jalen felt he was regaining the upper hand the door to the practice gym opened and the high priestess Irvine entered. Both half-Drow lowered their weapons and gave a slight bow and a warm smile to their adopted "mother" and teacher.

"Hello children." She greeted them warmly, "You do Eilistraee a great honor by performing the sword dance in this manner." the old Elven priestess loved her two students very much and longed to see them wed. But that would have to wait, she thought, Eilistraee's will comes before all.

"Thank you Irvine" said Jalen, "Your kind words warm us and give us great pleasure. Our skill is nothing more than a testimony of your own prowess at teaching." The half-Drow held so much love and respect for his teacher he truly believed those words.

"Now now, Jalen don't be so modest. I think we can out fight our Lady herself by now, not even Irvine can defeat us at swordplay." Kinara was a proud fighter but the playful tone the statement was spoken in completely contradicted the boastful words.

Irvine smiled again, the child might be kidding but she was not so far off the mark.

Her two students have long surpassed her at swordplay and their unique magical abilities made them formidable to say the least. The only thing missing in the two young warriors was experience and that was about to change.

"I have come to you with a message from the high priestess herself. She has a small assignment for you." Irvine smiled for the third time at the bright sparks on the faces of her students.

"You have heard of a Drow-elf ranger by the name of Drizzt Do'Urden. The Drow in question is a ranger of a human goddess, the Dark Maiden wishes to introduce herself to him. Your job will be to travel to Mithral Hall, where this Ranger dwells from time to time, and persuade him to return to the temple here in Skullport. The arch-priestess wishes you leave today. Pack your bag and get something to eat, and children… say farewell to an old lady before you go."

"Yes lady." They said, the wild enthusiasm of youth shining in their eyes.

The young half-elves bowed again and left the gym.

"Finally!" said Kinara as they were racing to their quarters, "It has finally come, our training is complete! No more skulking in skullport. Killing priests of Vhaeraun had become most tiresome. We can finally see more of the outside world, other than the dancing circle in the forest."

"You forget my love," said Jalen as he calmly ran beside her "I have yet to see the dancing circle, and killing the serpents of Vhaeraun is never a waste of my time." Jalen's usually cheerful tone always took a darker tone when discussing the Drow good of thieves. He quickly regained his good nature and said:

"You can't say we have been stuck in the under-mountain without a breath of air. During our training we were out plenty of times, learning the secrets of tracking and living in the wild…"

"But we were always under Irvine's watchful eye!" interrupted Kinara. "You know I love her dearly but it will be good to be on our own." A quirky half-smile spread on her beautiful lips and a small shudder passed through Jalen, he smiled too. The next moment they were inside the apprentice quarters and moved into their individual rooms. With the precise moves of seasoned veterans they donned their light studded-leather armor. Jalen and Kinara created this armor together, with the aide and guidance of their adopted mother, Irvine, each piece of metal on the armor had a metal repellant enchantment on it. The spells gave the wearer the protection one would expect from full plate mail but only against metallic weapons. They both slung their short bows and a quiver of twenty arrows on their shoulders and strapped their curved blades on the special hilt crossed on their back.

Picking up the other equipment took several minutes but Jalen was out of his room in no time at all. As always he waited for Kinara for a few moments and they went to eat something.

The temple cook knew they were going out on assignment; Jalen and Kinara were among her favorites in the temple. She served them a healthy portion of stew and fresh bread. The couple ate quickly and without much talk. They took 10 days worth of supplies from the pantry, hard bread and cheese, some dried fruits and salted meat. They were both excellent trackers and hunters and those parts of north were full of bountiful game.

A few moments later they entered the chambers of Irvine Silverwand, the old gold elf female was the mistress mage of the followers of Eilistraee. Her hair flowed golden white across her shoulders, her face was smoth and ageless as most elf's, but her eyes betrayed her 4 centuries in service of the dark lady. Her Eyes were bright blue that changed hue to green and purple with the lighting, eyes full of warmth wisdom and a touch of mischief. She wore a dark blue robe that hugged her slight frame, magnificently beautiful this was not the first time kinara was stunned by the perfection of elves, as much as she loved Irvine, she always felt lessened by her presence, and ashamed of her mixed blood. And that was even more disturbing to her since it was her human mother who raised her and cared for her. Her father was a Vhaerunian raider and their meeting was one of violence and force not love and moonlight. Shaking her head Kinara walked further into her adopted mother's office, the earth colored drapes, carpet and shelves sent a warm feeling through the couple, a feeling of welcome and comfort.

"Good" said Irvine as she rose from her desk, "you wasted no time getting ready. Sit down children." She gestured towards the two black velvet armchairs facing her beautiful mahogany desk. The two half Drow sat down, barely containing their excitement.

"You bring me great joy and pride, my children." Irvine said in her warm and melodious voice. "You have trained with us for over twenty years now. I know you were angry with me for holding you close and for not allowing you to wander the realms, even in the service of Eilistraee. That will change now. When this assignment is complete you will be given free rein. Your life will be yours to lead with my blessing, and the occasional service to the Dark Maiden. I have prepared several items for you, as a parting gift. These I hope will help you in your mission and future journeys."

The aging Drow female held out two masterfully carved wands of jet black wood engraved with silver runes, and four highly decorated song-swords, sheaths in silver leather scabbards.

"Your training, unlike most in the temple, was a mix of fighting and arcane magic as opposed to the clerical magic more common to the priesthood. Your unique skill at single word casting made you perfect spell-swords and thus you were trained as such. Yet your inability to heal yourself through the grace of Eilistraee did not sit well with the Arch-priestess, she loves you two almost as much as I do." The two young fighters nodded, they knew Quile Valderon, Arch priestess and chosen of Mystra did indeed hold them in high regard. "Therefore," continued Irvine, "she herself, with the grace of our Lady Eilistraee, created these wands. They are activated by the arcane energy you can control. They each carry a charge that can heal serious injury. Also, by the grace of the Dark Maiden, you may recharge them once a night under the light of the stars or moon."

The Elf handed the wands to her students and turned back to the four beautiful song-swords.

"These," she said handing each of the warriors two blades, "where also enchanted by the Arch-priestess, with my assistance. They are known as you are known, as spell swords. They have a strong varying enchantment laid upon them. You may use them as they are, in this way the magic in them will enable them to hit better and cut deeper. You may also call upon the magic to ignite the blade, charring your enemies. The powers of lightning and ice can also be called in this manner. We give them to you with the clear knowledge that your sword dance will be brighter still while carrying these blades"

Jalen and Kinara took the slightly curved blades that so resembled their own swords and studied them with silent awe.

"The scabbards" continued Irvine "have an invisibility enchantment, you may hide the blades from sight at any time, until you choose to disable the invisibility or you draw the blade. Replace your own song-swords with these and return the old blades to the armory before you head out."

Irvine looked hard into her children's eyes and gave a soft moan of acceptance and loss.

"Do you have any questions?" she finally said.

"Yes," answered Jalen, "how can two half-Drow gain entrance to a dwarven city? Especially, one that has fought the Drow in recent history, will they not just swing axes and ask questions after no heads are left attached?"

"That is a pessimistic yet wise observation; there is no reason to put you at risk. My advice would be to try the lady Alustriel of Silverymoon. As you well know she is the sister of our Arch-Priestess, I am sure she could send an emissary to precede you or aid you in other ways."

"Yes, that will do nicely," said Kinara, her smile wide "I have wanted to see Silverymoon for a long time!"

Jalen shared those feelings too. For the longest time the quite half-Drow had wanted to see the fabled city of Silverymoon. Amazing architecture and a variety of kindly races were rare in the under mountain. For a brief moment no one spoke, their minds racing with the possibilities of the upcoming trip.

It was Irvine who broke the silence, "My children!" she said, rising and embracing the two Half Drow. "It is with a heavy heart I send you out into the wide world, remember me and return to us often."

"We will, mother." It was the first time Jalen had used that word in referring to Irvine. Though it was difficult, he knew in his heart it was right. Irvine shed a solitary tear and kissed Jalen on the forehead. She heartily embraced Kinara and whispered something in her ear that made her laugh. With a final bow the two left the office.


	2. The Tavern

Author's notes

Disclaimer: I see everyone is doing this so I guess I should too.

I don't own FR, or several of the Characters listed below. I think I do own Jalen and Kinara though, and if any of you want to try and write about them just let me know first, I'd like to help.

This is going to be a longer story than I first intended. I hope you have the patience to read it all the way.

Chapter 2

It took Jalen and Kinara almost an hour to exit the city. They were attacked twice on their way out. The street of Skullport were a hazardous place for the weak, but there where few as strong or as capable as the young fighters.

It was night when they broke the surface. Using their training and a simple map they began to make their way north east towards Silverymoon. They traveled mostly by night. Their long traveling robes protected them from the chill and their low cowls shielded their faces from the cold winds. In a few days time they arrived at the croosroads to the village of Amphail. The village lies on the Long Road, a good three days. ride north of Waterdeep.

About 600 folk call Amphail home (850, if the population of outlying

farms is included). Most are humans, but there are half-elves and

a smattering of dwarves and halflings. The two knew the village is a breeding ground for fast and reliable horses and it was their intention to acquire two fine steeds to hurry their travel.

"We should go to the Stag horned Flagon first." Said Kinara. "I heard we could probably buy a couple of horses there, and I think it also has a bed or two to offer the tired traveler. Not sure though…"

"It's as a good a place as any to start with," he replied. "Should we go in as ourselves or try an illusion. We may not look Drow but we are no gold elf either."

"I think we can forgo the disguise today, in the shadows even white skin is grey."

"Yes, you're probably right. Everything will be all right." He said and throw a weak smile her way. "Famous last words…" he whispered after Kinara moved away.

The village was surrounded with farms, horse farms and vegetables of all kinds. They supported each other. The village proper was not large. Twenty or so building housed the smiths and coopers and other tradesmen, there was also a tavern and an inn.

The Stag horned Flagon as the establishment was known was a low sprawling building, its dark timber walls made it look warm, even from the outside.

"All things aside I believe we should not walk as armed as we are." jalen started as they were nearing the large building. "Our bows are not something we can hide but our armor is covered by the cloaks and…"

"And you want to hide the song swords," kinara interrupted.

"I think that would be wise." she continued, "I heard the place was both calm and safe. No harm would come to us here. So, I guess we best look as harmless as possible ourselves."

"good." Jalen said and made the blades and scabbards vanish with a thought.

As the two spell swords walked in the tavern they noticed the place was quite empty. The large room populated several well dressed individuals. Nobles and noble sons, no doubt. Amphail produced most of the horses in Waterdeep, and the noble families were always on the lookout for a good Steed.

"We should sit and have a drink and a bite to eat before trying to find a trader." Jalen moaned and collapsed at an empty table near the bar, "Walking is hungry work." He said smiling and waved to a serving girl.

The pretty girl wove deftly through the crowd to brighten their evening with the most delightful freckled smile. "What can I help you with kind sirs?" Kinara had her cowl down and in man's clothes, she appeared more like a slim youngster than the beautiful half-drow she was.

Jalen face brightened even further and tipped the cowl from his head and then from Kinara's. The dull light made their faces appear as colorless as any other person in the bar. Kinara was right, as always.

As her cowl fell Kinara shook her long platinum blond hair and the waitress let out a small sigh, the Half-Drow was stunningly beautiful. The waitress felt here oily hair and blushed feeling crude and plain in the face of the light haired beauty in front of her. Kinara flashed a comforting smile at the human girl. How often she felt as this woman feels now, she knew that to say anything would only cause the waitress more embracement so she just ordered in a kind but business like tone. "We want two large glasses of light ale and some stock if you have any, and bread, as fresh as it can be."

Jalen flashed his charming smile.

The barmaid stammered a bit but said eventually "the ail ye' can have, but we sell no hot food. We can offer some warm biscuits and a very pleasing butter to go with it, most patrons of the stag swear by it." She sounded sincere so the two agreed to take her on her offer. The barmaid smiled her lovely freckled smile once again and hurried away to the bar.

"This is a nice place." jalen said looking around "It doesn't look like there are sleeping rooms anywhere."

"No, we should check the inn…" kinara started to say as a man in an elaborately colored coat caught her right hand and whispered in a drunken drawl, "or you can sleep in my room pretty lady."

Jalen got up from his seat to talk to the man but by the time he stood up it was too late.

Kinara twisted her hand to let loose the man's grip. She took hold of his wrist with her left hand and with a slight tug to the left the man went face first into the table and laid flat on the floor holding his injured nose.

A good shout came from the man's companion as he drew his dagger. Both noble born, jalen thought, looks like we might be in for a quick run from trouble. Well, it won't be the first time, he thought, then he remembered that there are no priestesses waiting to shield them or heal them if things go sour.

In a flash both jalen and kinara were on their feet, daggers in hand. A heartbeat later three bright flashes streaked through the air, the first one hit the young noble's dagger, both blades tumbled harmlessly to the ground the second and third were aimed at jalen and kinara's blades. With the grace, of endless training the two twisted deftly and caught the thrown blades. Mimicking each others move with dance-like fluidity, they spun around to throw the knives back at the source. In a heartbeat they spotted their target. The freckled face held a look of grim fatality as if the girl knew, Death has come. Jalen quickly ended his smooth circular motion, instead of hitting the young girl he throw the dagger at the floor to stand quivering a foot or so from his own feet. He glanced at Kinara and saw grimness in her face he did not like, her hand was empty. Then, he heard the scream.

When Kinara saw the flash of silver she knew where it had come from, in the heartbeat it took her to spin around she measured the balance of the weapon. With her face set in anger she released her blade, aiming for the serving girl's hand, a hand that held yet another knife.

Kinara's throw took out two of the girls fingers and made her drop to her knees in pain and horror. Jalen's face was ashen. All he wanted to do was rush to the poor girl and offer her as much healing as he could.

Kinara had drawn her blades, tingling with lightning the illuminated swords made onlookers step back and barmaids reach into their belts.

Waiting on Kinara's lips was a "protection from missiles" spell, she knew they could wreak havoc and be able to flee this place, but she also knew that would not be a good step. Becoming the enemies of waterdeep's nobles was not a great starting point for the life of a priestess of a kindly Goddess. How could she let things go wrong so quickly?

Again she felt how her judgment was affected by anger, and her past.

These human's bring out the worst in me! She thought as her prowling blade moved slowly from patrons to barmaids, one had moved to try and stop the bleeding from the young waitress's hand. Kinara looked around at Jalen and saw he did not draw a weapon. He was looking at the bar.

The bartender was an old stocky man with silver hair. Jalen addressed him with a tremor in his voice; the common room was as quite as a corpse.

"Kind sir," Jalen began with urgency "this has been a terrible miss-understanding, please allow me to go to the poor girl and offer her healing. It is not too late to save her injured hand."

The serving girl's sobs of pain were softer now, and even more heart wrenching.

Kinara quickly sheathed her weapons and spun the ready shield spell into a single word casting ready to be thrown about her in a flash.

She looked over to the barman.

"I am so sorry," she said with sincerity "after the man grabbed me I got…confused, please forgive me and let us help the girl!"

The man looked over to his waitress weeping on the floor, he cared very deeply for the serving girls he employed. With reluctance he signaled the two to move over to her.

Jalen ran, Kinara took the five steps with quick yet cautious moves.

As Jalen kneeled beside the weeping Barmaid he recovered the severed fingers and looked at the maimed hand. The waitress was incoherent, the pain must have been dreadful, "Hold her still," he told the girl above the injured waitress, "this will hurt her." He took his water flask and washed the severed fingers, and then he washed her hand. Kinara was waiting with her healing wand. She touched the hand as Jalen held the fingers in place.

A silvery glow came from the wand tip and surged into the barmaid. Kinara felt a pain so intense she almost dropped the wand, it was as if the wand was healing her injured hand. As the seconds passed the pain began to subside, slowly but surly the healing was done.

The serving girl's hand was as good as new. Jalen stirred the young girl with a drought from his water skin.

The bar was full of soft whispers. The barmaid woke up after several moments of tense waiting. She lifted her hand to clear the water from her face, it took her a while to realize it was the hand that was so badly hurt just moments ago, and she burst out in happy tears as the second girl hugged her, both sobbing on the floor, none looking at the two half-elves kneeling next to them.

Jalen and Kinara rose from the floor, returning their things to their proper places.

"I think you should leave now." They heard a rugged voice saying, the fat merchent was grim faced and looked very tired. "There was no permanent harm done tonight, but you brought pain and chaos to the only place a man can truly relax in, and get truly drunk in."

The barman looked over to the burly merchant and spoke to him, "Mirt, I can take it from here." He turned on the young warriors "Mirt is right. We can have no further conflict here. You are banned from this establishment for three years. If you should show your face in the Stag I will have the lords of Waterdeep take care of what we leave of you."

Kinara was angry again, but Jalen laid a comforting hand on her slim shoulder, "We understand." He said, "Please don't think to badly of us, Too err is human, is it not? We truly apologize for the problems we caused." Jalen took out two gold coins from his pouch and placed them on the table. "For the girl." he said "please tell her we meant her no harm, we were simply surprised and over cautious."

Kinara added a soft "I'm sorry" as the two left the inn.


	3. The Aftermath

**Authors notes:**

So, sorry for the very long pause between chapters, I had a very serious block.

But it's over, for now. the next chapter is almost ready so you wont have to wait to long,

I Don't own The FR setting bladidiblabla.

If there is anyone from TSR reading this I can also write when I am being paid (-:

**Chapter 3**

It was getting late. And the emissaries of Eilistraee felt cold, tired, and most of all disappointed. Their first encounter with the outside world went badly. Jalen was concerned, if Kinara could not control herself in situation like this, they would not survive the summer. He looked over to his beloved partner, she was sulking. It didn't surprise him, when her temper got the better of her the only thing that kept her from getting depressed was becoming angry again.

"We should find an inn." He said. "It's getting cold and I don't want to camp outside another night."

"Yes, alright. But you do the talking this time."

Jalen saw the little smile that followed her remark and knew they'd leave the city in one piece. He felt much better that the incident didn't start another shouting match between them. Kinara sometimes used Self deprecating humor as a way to apologize.

He said a small prayer under his breath for the Lady of the Dance.

The inn was called the stone stallion and it was immense.

Four stories full of rooms. It was rumored that last year there was an intense battle between a Cormyrian delegation to Waterdeep and a Mercenary band named the Black priests. They fought on the forth floor for over half an hour, 20 men died that night and on the second floor a family of ten slept soundly.

The reciving room was a dimly lit chamber housing a single long desk behind which sat a young man reading a little booklet. A staircase led to the room above.

The receptionist took the two gold pieces from Jalen without looking too hard at his face or even asking his name. He gave the couple a room on the third floor and continued reading his little booklet about horse rearing.

He was just getting really into the detail about feeding times when a large gauntleted hand crashed on the counter.

He raised his eyes to the man whose hand had just crushed his favorite mug and paled noticeably. The three men standing in front of him wore heavy mail and were armed to the teeth.

The gauntleted man removed his helmet, his face was strikingly handsome. He had a shallow scar running under his left eye that looked like he had just shed a solitary tear.

"Two half-elves entered this place a short time ago. What floor are they on?"

The question was simple and to the point. No fooling around here, the clerk thought. Well this isn't a carrier, it's a summer job and I'll be damned if I get hurt for it.

"Third floor, room three fourteen." He answered sheepishly. The handsome man smiled and the three mercenaries left the counter and headed up the stairs.

Jalen entered the room, it was simple and small. A low wooden bed with a straw mattress occupied most of it, a table containing a large wash basin completed the furniture. He started taking off his gear, placing it neatly at the foot of the bed. kinara did the same. Taking off her chafing armor was a little slice of heaven.

She unrobed completely and headed for the wash basin, warm water was delivered to the room a second before the couple arrived. Jalen stopped what he was doing and watched his beautiful lover walking naked to the wash basin. She moved with the grace of a dancer.

He walked over to her and rubbed her sore shoulders with his strong hands.

"Thank you." She said sweetly. He rubbed her neck and whispered sweet nonsense softly into her ear, she laughed, and turned to face him, the grave look on his face startled her.

"What's wrong Jalen?

"Kinara, we can't get into fights here." He said while taking her hand, he pressed it to his lips.

"We need to remain calm, to talk our way out of things, we do not have a band of priestesses at our back like we did back home."

"I know, I know, she said smiling, from now on I swear to bark before I bite."

The door to the room exploded knocking the two from their feet and stunning them, rough hands grabbed the unarmed couple, tightly and expertly binding their hands and gagging them.

In mere moments the two were so tightly bound they could hardly move.

The three mercenaries stood above them leering at Kinaras exposed body.

Fury such as he had never known exploded in Jalen's mind.

I will Kill all of them. In moments they will Die, he thought.

Kinara was looking at Jalen, she had seen that look on his face before, usually just before raiding a camp of Vhaeraun's followers.

There will be violence soon enough, she thought.

The handsome man with the gauntlet grabbed Kinara's chin and turned her head to him.

"If that stupid dandy had told us how pretty you were we would have asked for less money." He told her.

"What do you say fellows?" he asked the two man standing above jalen, "who gets to go first?"

Kinara felt her hands set free as the Knock spell Jalen had cast mentally, took effect. The Spell Swords unique ability to mentally cast spells had saved them many a time before.

Kinara removed her gag as she grabbed the handsome man's wrist.

"I think you will die last."

Jalen went into a crouching position the second Kinara spoke, he moved so quickly no one had time to react, He threw a hidden dagger he had not removed from his boot and caught the man standing above him under the jaw, the dagger went throw the man's tongue and strait into his brain.

By the time he fell, jalen had rolled to the foot of the bed grabbed his sword and started slashing at the two remaining men.

As jalen rose to his feet Kinara shoved the handsome man and rolled back

When she looked up she saw both men were trying to fend off Jalen's flashing blade with short swords they barely had time to draw.

The Half Drow' eyes burned in an intense red glow giving his face a demonic look as he darted from one opponents to the other, he was so quick that the two man felt like they were fighting two opponents instead of a single unarmored half elf.

Jalen spun around yet another time catching the handsome man with a slice to the ribs, the man doubled over as Jalen's magical blade cut through his armor and tore into his lung.

Kinara tossed Jalen his other blade just as the agile fighter was turning to face his second opponent. Catching the sword with his right hand he took of the second attacker's head and turned back to finish the handsome gauntleted man.

The man lay in a pool of blood, coughing up his life essence.

Jalen stabbed him in the throat driving his blade with so much force it went through the man's spine and stuck in the wooden floor.

Jalen tore his blade from the wood and looked over to Kinara who stood calmly, still naked, near the wash basin.

"So much for talking before we bite" he said

"I don't know about you, but I managed to slip an eloquent little sentence before you started slicing people to bits."

Jalen rolled his eyes and let out a breathy chuckle.

They packed up their belongings. Kinara reluctantly put her armor back on, we won't get much sleep tonight, she thought.

As they walked out of the room they stopped near a very surprised looking clerk. Jalen removed his hood and created small glowing light in his hand, the light revealed the Half Drow's true heritage and the clerk went pale once more.

"We would like our money back, please." Jalen never intended to hurt the clerk but a little fear went a long way.

The clerk returned Jalen's money with shaking hands.

"You should call housekeeping." Kinara said before leaving. "The room is a terrible mess."

The couple slid quietly out of town.

four hours of travel later they were making camp on the bank of a small brook. The forest was alive with comforting sounds the couple had known from their earliest years.

"The moon is old, it will be dawn in a few short hours." Jalen said while lying down next to his lover.

"Yes." She said snuggling next to him, "we should sleep in tomorrow, start again after high sun maybe?"

"Maybe, let's last tonight and see."

"Why are you so upset Jalen? This was not the first battle we had to fight to save our skins. Nor was this the first time my life was in peril, or the first time an evil man tried to have me."

She said smiling but the look on Jalen's face took that smile away.

"What's wrong love? Tell me."

"This was supposed to be our first adventure. We were to meet new people, see new sights, but all we have done is fight and kill. I feel as if that is all I'm good for. Damn IT!" he said and rose, frustration turning to anger. He walked to the very edge of the river bank. Kinara looked at his back seeing the tension in his heart mirrored by the way he moved.

"This is not what I wanted. I have been a Holy Soldier for the better part of my life. This is supposed to be a diplomatic mission, diplomatic! That means talking!" he said as he turned to face her.

"War is nothing more then diplomacy carried out with weapons."

Kinara retorted, "You know what we are here for, we have a mission to accomplish. That's all. Anything else that comes our way is just life."

She spoke softer know making jalen move closer in order to hear her.

"If this is what the goddess puts before us, then this is what we need to deal with. Nothing more, nothing less! Now do you want to come lay down or do I need to make you."

The softness returned to Jalen's face and he returned to Kinara's embrace,

It was a quite night and the couple slept in, enjoying the morning in the shaded areas near the brook. They left the small woods at high sun, no sooner.

After two days of travel they arrived at the outskirts of the Westwoods, where The Long Road, leading directly north of Waterdeep, forked.

The north east fork would take them closer to the High Forest but it will shorten their trip by days. The road moved through a lightly wooded area. Shielded clearings could be seen between the trees.

"The night is beautiful" said Kinara, her sensitive ears picking up a night raptor in flight above them.

"It is a beautiful night," Said Jalen, enjoying the cool air and peacefulness. His ears picked up a sound and his eyes fixed on a tree several meters ahead f them.

"Kinara, can I ask you something?"

"By all means my love. What is it you want to know?" Kinara's heart pounded! She had been waiting for Jalen to ask her to marry him for two years, ever since they had shared their first night of passion. It was then that she knew without question that Jalen should and will be her husband, the memory of that night put some color on her grayish face.

"I was wondering about something. Both farmers and merchants know bandits prowl at night and don't leave home after dark, the bandits know that the farmers and merchants know they prowl after dark and thus don't leave home at night, why is it that bandits still prowl after dark?"

"Jalen are you well? This sort of ridicules musing is not like you."

Kinara's gaze settled over the trees Jalen was looking at.

"ohh… I see. Do you wish to talk to these men?" she asked

Nine hooded men were watching the two sorcerers with notched bows,

"That's a fair question." Jalen said slowing down a bit, Kinara meant that remark as a jest but he considered the idea. "No." he said finally.

"There is no escaping violence tonight, or any other night I guess, the north is a savage place even this far south. I do think that at future travels we should not be so discreet with our weapons. Maybe the sharp display of four blades would have dissuaded this group." The couple was traveling with their blades concealed by their magical scabbards. "I am thinking of a bright light spell, followed by a rush to the trees, you take the right and I will take the left?" asked Jalen.

She nodded and said "on three, one, two, three!" closing their eyes both Spell swords whispered the trigger word for a blinding light spell.

The two brilliant globes appeared between each of the spell swords and the bandits hiding in the tree, completely blinding the waiting men. Eight arrows clattered almost aimlessly as the bowmen fired in their panic.

Jalen raced to the tree on the left, scaling the trunk as easily as if he were running on flat ground, in two blindingly quick strokes of his enchanted blades he tore out the throats of the two bowmen in his tree, a bright flash coming from across the way on the other tree caught his eye, then a wooden arrow tip exploded out of his shoulder, the third bowman on the tree had recovered his sight.

Kinara found her footing just as quickly as Jalen did and managed to scale the tree in no time. The branch formation did not allow her to wave her blades around or easily reach the waiting bowmen, she decided to go for a different Tactic. Calling out the command word for the lightning power in her blades she jabbed at the exposed feet of the stunned bowmen sitting a meter or so above her. Small flashes sparked as the men convulsed and dropped from the tree.

A heavy set man jumped on Kinara as she was withdrawing her blades, they tumbled to the ground together but the agile half-elf managed to turn her body so that the man landed under her.

The two meter fall hardly winded him. The huge human was far stronger then the sorceress, his left hand held her tight to his chest while his right completely covered her throat and began to squeeze.

Before the pain of the arrow even registered in his mind Jalen turned and throw a dagger at the bowman who was fumbling with another arrow. The blade caught him in the chest and he fell from his perch.

Jalen looked at the arrow head protruding from the front of his left shoulder, he could not move that arm. He felt weak and sick. The spell sword's special way of casting made it possible for him to cast all his spells using only verbal components. He would have to finish this fight with magic.

He quickly surveyed the nearby trees; he saw the outline of two men sitting on a branch.

One bowman had his bow taut and trained at something on the ground, the other was looking at the tree Jalen was perched on, with his grey skin and dark hair Jalen was all but invisible. Without thinking twice he began his casting, intricate gestures were played in his mind and the power threads quickly built, tying into a single wire, Jalen uttered the trigger word and blinding lightning erupted from his right arm, forking so as to hit both waiting men, they dropped to the ground, following their five companions in the realms of the dead.

Kinara was in trouble. Her blades were a long way away and the huge man was able to turn and pin her to the ground. Her left hand was helplessly pinned beneath her body and her right hand was held tightly by the big man who was chocking her. A blinding light flashed above them, the huge human loosened his grip for only a moment but that was enough time for the agile half-elf to snatch her arm free. With a quick flick she loosened the throwing dagger tied to her forearm and jabbed in and out of the man's neck. The blood drenched her as the dying man rolled away. She moved to her feet quickly. She did not know how many foes were left standing so she took no chances. Scooping up her swords, she ran to the cover of the trees. For a long time no sound could be heard then a soft whisper sounded in her ear "I took out five, I am hurt, how many did you…" Jalen's voice was soft, but recognizing the spell he used she answered back softly "I killed three, I am unharmed, I will cast a stoneskin spell and step out." With that the magic ended and the message was transported back to Jalen.

He was hurt, she thought alarmingly, she knew it was probably not life threatening but the thought of her love in pain was very difficult. She swallowed her emotions and focused. Bringing forth one of her most powerful spells, several layers of physical protection now covered her body. She stepped out into sight, appearing as if she were trying to remain unseen.

Jalen received her message and watched the road carefully. In a few heartbeats he saw Kinara ungracefully stumble out of her cover, making a lot of noise in the process. Yet another flash drew his eyes, he saw two streaks of glowing light, spell bolts, rocket from the right. In their light he could see the mage that had cast them. He returned the favor shooting four glowing bolts his way. The projectiles connected, burning the man's face and neck. He crumbled to the ground dead.

Kinara saw the glowing bolts coming her way and knew she cannot avoid them, in the split second before they hit, she drooped to the ground and covered her face with her hand. Fortunately, her magical immunity, an advantage of her Drow heritage, protected her from the meager magic and she took no damage.

Jalen called upon his Drow ability to levitate and slowly descended to the ground. Most surface Drow can not levitate but Jalen alone managed to link his innate ability with the magic of the surface world. To his knowledge no other Drow or Drow-Kin was able to do that, he was very proud of this ability. Now it came in useful as his wounds made him weak and almost unable to move. He suspected some sort of numbing poison was used on the arrow that hit him. Kinara quickly raced to his side and laid him down against the tree he had perched on.

"Did it break the bone?" she asked.

"Yes," he said and grimaced "I think it did. Well at least it went through, I think it's poisoned, if it had stuck in my shoulder I would have been asleep or paralyzed."

"My love, I need to break the arrow so I can pull it out, this will hurt" she said as she inspected the back of shoulder

"Yes it will, but not as much as when you'll have to…" he stooped at mid sentence as Kinara broke the back of the arrow, the pain was intense.

"Are you still with me?" she asked

"Yes but I fear what you'll have to do next will take me out, the arrow splintered my shoulder joint and it is lodged inside it, when you pull it out…I'll hurt, badly."

A tear streaked down Kinara's beautiful face but she could not leave the arrow lodged in.

"Brace yourself, and bite down on this," she picked up a thick piece of branch and put it in Jalen's mouth. Staring into his eyes with a warm smile of true love she pulled out the arrow. Jalen face contorted with the agonizing pain, making Kinara burst into tears, and then he passed out.

Kinara quickly drew her wand of healing and unleashed all of its power into Jalen; the wound closed instantly she gently moved his arm to check the flexibility of the joint and was very satisfied with the results.

She carried Jalen to a clearing in the forest far from the road and the dead bandits.

After setting up several traps and magical defenses she cast a simple illusion on Jalen making him appear as a mound of dirt, and stepped deeper into the forest.

She found a nice glade and removed her clothes. She placed the spent wand on a rock and after a quick prayer to Eilistraee she began to dance. She performed the sword dance for almost two hours, giving thanks to her goddess. She put her clothes back on and retrieved the recharged wand. after a few more minutes she laid down next to the sleeping Jalen. Taking comfort in his warmth she fell asleep.

Kelebreth viewed the small village from afar. The moon elves were busy in their daily chores and oblivious to the coming attack. The small village offered a perfect slaughtering ground. The scout counted no more than a score of families. No more than 20 able bodied warriors were present at the small village on the outskirts of the high forest. Her band of over twenty skilled Half-elf priestesses of Loviater, would kill the adults and take the eleven elf children to be sacrificed at the temple. The goddess Loviatar would bask in the pain of the dying, and the torment of the sacrificed. In less than a week the stars would align and the ritualistic slaughter of the village would take place. With an evil grin the exiled gold elf took her leave of the village, her followers were waiting for her report.


	4. The Misgivings

Jalen awoke with a slight stiffness in his shoulder. He was sleeping in Kinara's lap who was now also awake. They shared a quite look and a feeling of well being shrouded the morning.

"We most defiantly need to display our weapons for all to see." Said Jalen.

"We might even consider traveling by day". Kinara replied, surprising Jalen, "Here now, don't give me that look!" Kinara quickly added. "We will need to get more comfortable with the light of day if we are going to adventure in the realms."

"And again you make a valid point." Jalen conceded "Well, morning is upon us, shall we eat and move on."

Kinara nodded and kissed her lover lightly. In a few moments they had eaten and restored their supplies, the road was long and they needed to make up for lost time.

The sun had risen high, warming the half-elves but also stinging their sensitive eyes. The terrain did not change much. Small grass covered hills could be seen at the road side along with small settlements, and at times isolated farmhouses. They walked quickly but without the eager haste they started with. The events of the night before made them a bit more cautious and Jalen's near death experience tempered their youthful excitement. As the sun was slowly driving the stiffness from his shoulder, Jalen began to simply enjoy the peaceful moments of walking with the woman he loved, and the same went for Kinara. The calm weather and pastoral rural settings made it a beautiful road, one to enjoy and not just walk in. the bright colors of green and blue were a welcomed change from the black and grey of living underground.

"How did the spell sword do in the fight?" Jalen asked enjoying a cool breeze.

"It was as Irvine told us, the magic in the blade transformed." Kinara pulled one of the slightly curve blades from the decorated scabbard that hung on her back. They had dispelled the invisibility charm on the scabbards to alert all highwaymen that they will not be an easy kill.

"The guiding magic ended when I activated the lightning power. The blades were heavier in my hands, a bit clumsier, more akin to our old sparring blades. It was not a great inconvenience though. The craftsmanship of the blades is superb. Even without the enchantments they are wonderful to wield."

Jalen draw one of his blades too. He focused on the magic of the sword immersing his mind into it. He could see that this weapon's magic was different. Instead of a single powerful spell the magic appeared to consist of three powerless spells and one connected into a power source, the picture resembled an upside-down cross. Each of the cross' arms had a rune inscribed on it, the meeting point of the two lines was a large glowing sphere, the main arm of the cross was connected to it and glowing while the three remaining shorter arms were dull. With an act of will Jalen disconnected the main arm and attached the one whose rune spelled fire. The blade burst into flame and became white with the heat. Jalen could not feel any burning in his arm, the fire field extended to no more than half an inch away from the glowing blade.

Jalen tried several attack maneuvers and even a few moves from the sword dance.

"You were right." he told Kinara "The spells are fuelled by a single source. They cannot function at the same time."

They sheathed the blades and returned to their slow walk.

"I love it out here in the open." Kinara said while tracing her hand through the tall grass that grew in small patches at the side of the road. "Our people should live our their days under the sun and stars like every other civilized race"

Jalen gave out a soft chuckle.

"Our people?" he asked, "did you mean bastard half breeds who worship the dark maiden? Or was that a drow reference?"

Kinara scowled at him as the argument stole her good mood. She started saying several things but stopped, finally she locked her gaze at the setting sun, basking in it's last warmth of the day. Eventually she held her hand out in front of her and spoke.

"We are more drow than we are Human, you agree with me, don't say you don't." she quickly added seeing the coming answer from Jalen.

"Our skin is dark, our frame is slender. Our skills are magical beyond that of any man, Our goddess is a drow goddess, our ways…they are the ways the drow should walk.

"Our home is the surface." added Jalen, "our lives are short, our passion for it great. Our skin is lighter, our eyes are less almond more…walnut" he grinned in saying. "Our way is a wondering way one dictated by our church and less by our parentage. our life is a mix. We are not drow my love, neither are we human, as you so distastefully say, we are what we are, half-breeds, Half-Elves, Half-Humans, as some of the priestesses call me at times when they think I can't hear them. We are who we are because we have found love with Eilistraee. We have no "people". All we have is family, our temple family, and each other. Most of all, each other."

Jalen's eyes were also on the setting sun but his hand was holding Kinara's."

"The Drow should come up here," Kinara did not relent, "I am more Drow than anything else and I would rather see them living in the sun than dying on the tip of my blade."  
"I always said you stab too much when you fight, you should cut more, you see less dying faces when your targets head is ten paces away." Jalen's dry humor did not sit well with the sorceress, I am drow, she thought. I am as the drow should be, on the surface, in the arms of a kind goddess, I am Drow!

They walked for another five hours as the night grew around them, through the argument and the passing hours they kept holding hands

After two more days of travel the couple arrived at an important junction in their road to Silverymoon. They were so anxious to start their mission that they did not plan their route fully. The northbound road led through a hilly country known to be inhabited by the watchful dwarves of "The Hall of The Hunting Axe". The half-Drow knew that their heritage would betray them and even with their significant abilities at stealth they did not want to cross the dwarf-held valley. They found a nice outcrop of rock, almost a cave, and settled for a quick meal and a quick word.

"We should leave the road." Jalen stated after a quick look at their map. "We could skirt the hills and travel closely to the High forest."

"I think you're right, I have wanted to see the ancient place for some time. And maybe we could find a druid, I heard there was an old ranger of the forest goddess living in the western boundary of the forest."

"Why should we find a druid?" Jalen asked.

"Two reasons, a priests of Mielikki could advise us on whether the Goddess would be angry at the possible duel allegiance of her follower, And if she would try to influence our mission. Also we could ask the druid to try and enchant the leather in our armor, against wood." Kinara's face darkened as she remembered the life threatening injury Jalen sustained. Anger and fear mingled and battled on her face. Anger won.

"How could you be so careless?" she shouted at Jalen, stopping. "How could you let a _Human_ creep up on you? How could you let a _Human_ fire at your back?"

Jalen knew his lady for a long time, he knew her temper and her mood swings, and he knew her fear of loss. He took the verbal abuse that followed without a word. He let her vent out all of her protecting anger. That was the only way to calm her.

After several moments of screaming, and even a sharp shove, Kinara calmed. She looked shamed, the sorrow was evident in her eyes, old and new wounds mixed together.

"You can't leave me alone." She spoke softly almost whispering.

"You know I won't." Jalen said, hugging her. He thought about his own tragedy and knew that sometimes even a vow made with true meaning could be broken by what the god's have planned for you.

The argument and eventual making up took most of the daylight hours. The Drow-kin did not fear the darkness. They started their track through the wild and it was as easy going as the one in daytime if perhaps a bit more quite. The couple enjoyed a cloudless night. The heavens sparkled with the light of countless stars shining brightly, illuminating the planes clearly to their sensitive eyes. The grass planes with their low hills and short trees were a beautiful and peaceful place.

The night sounds were soft and calming. A flight of bats passed above them, no doubt from the mountains they had just left behind, searching for field mice and insects.

After two nights they decided to return to day traveling they slept in the small forests and groves they found on their way.

Night predators were abundant in the wild north but in those parts they were not large enough to pose a danger to the skilled half-elves. Still, every night the couple set magical traps and alarms before they slept. At times the half elves tried to enter reverie. The life they knew at the under-mountain was one of constant danger and conflict. Now, they found peace, and reverie came much more easily. On special nights they were even able to enter the shared reverie of the truly connected, a sign of their love and commitment to one another. Jalen had already put the troubling event at Amphail behind him, this will be our journey from now on, he thought, peaceful, uncomplicated.

After four more days of travel the spell-swords arrived at the point were the dwarven stronghold was directly north of them. By that time they had gotten to the edge of the high forest.

They spent the nights divining the location of the powerful ranger turned druid. Kinara remembered his true name was Caleb. They also tried improvising on cantrips. They were trying to devise a spell that would enable them to find their way in the forest and exit it if they got totally lost. They were able to form a spell that sent a beam of light directly to the west, that way they could find the way out, their true breakthrough was a variation of a more powerful spell, one that would be beyond their natural abilities alone but combined they could, in a manner, cast it.

It was a teleportation spell. It worked in a two step process. One of them would hurl a teleportation spell at the other, it will push him to the edge of the forest the other would then send the spell back to be "caught" by the first, they would then pull together on both ends and the second person would appear near the first. It was a good spell and they were most proud of it. With a few last measures of protection and with a quick hunt for supplies they set out into one of the oldest forests in the realms.

The foest was everything they feared and hoped it would be. The dense woods were dark and cool. The trees were not so old or large close to the edge, for it was a growing forest, expanding its borders, growing slowly and steadily with the endless patience of a tree. It took them the better part of two days to hike to the older parts of the woods, the tall trees blocked the sun and navigations could have been very difficult if it weren't for the spells they devised. Using simple cantrips they changed the color of their clothes to dark green to better blend in with the forest colors. They traveled in silence enjoying the wildness of their surrounding.

As the couple drew closer to the grove they began to feel the weight of the trees around them. They felt that some of the old trees were partly sentient. Visitors to the high forest told of the living trees known as Tree Ents. It was told that the high forest housed several of the oldest and most powerful of the race.

The two Half-Drow began to feel a bit out of their element. They were both fond of forests and all growing things but the High forest was by far… too much alive.

Hunting was difficult and they mostly ate plants and fruits. Some of the plant life was very foreign and they feared sampling the fruits of those trees for fear of poison.

They saw their third dawn inside the forest before encountering the first sign of humanoid life. Several ponds showed tracks of sandaled feet. The ponds themselves seemed a bit too orderly to be completely natural. They spotted Stone steps at several of them and the vegetation was less wild and even tamed at some points.

As they began to feel the human presence they cast their tracking spell again getting a fix on a powerful being of the wild not too far away.


	5. The Elfkin

Vitezo here

Well like I said I had some material already written so that explains the quick publication time between chapters.

I don't own FR but since I'm not making a dollar (even Canadian dollars) out of this it's probably OK. Please review this story, I need criticism to live, I feed on it, criticism and Thai-food.

Imariel!

if you are reading this, STOP HERE, at least until I OK it for you. Some things here give away important story lines.

Chapter 5

Caleb the Druid of the South, as he was known by the Ent king of the high forest, was having his daily bath in his favorite pond. With the hard day's work behind him he looked forward to a nice long sleep in one of his groves. A sound came from his right. Caleb's head quickly turned expecting one of his animal friends to show up.

The green parrot was indeed one of his friends; the druid saw the bird was upset.

He called to it and it landed on the branch he hang his towel on.

In a series of squeaks and chirps the parrot told Caleb of the two dark figures closing in on him. According to the bird, the men, for it could hardly distinguish between one humanoid to the other, were less then a day away from Caleb's location.

Caleb thought long and hard about the approach of the two men, if they were indeed men.

He would have to see these intruders to understand their motives. With a quick thought Caleb changed his form and two green parrots left the pond heading west.

A quick golden spark appeared in the pond and a large human form materialized after it.

The golden humanoid was slightly less than six feet tall. His Elven features were set with a deep scowl. They were finally coming for him, he thought. His leathery golden wings were beating furiously tossing the forest debris around into swirling chaos. In one lightning quick gesture he drew his talons and flexed his powerful hands.

The draconic humanoid was a hunted being, he was sure the approach of the two strangers was the completion of the druid's plan. He had lived in the grove for a year, or was it longer? Yet, he was never convinced of the druid's motives. He always suspected that the old man's show of good will was a clever ruse to dupe him into complacency, little did the old fool know, thought the golden creature, one as alert as himself would never let his guard down. This new development left the edgy dragon-kin with a difficult problem. He would follow the ranger and see the coming meeting. He would decide his course of action later. By "course of action" the creature was referring to the method of either his flight from the forest or the elimination of all the people involved. The gold spark came again and the man known as Shayen disappeared.

"It's coming towards us, and quickly if I judge the presence correctly it would be upon us in less then two hours." Kinara wasn't sure how she felt about the approaching being. The spell they cast allowed them to track a powerful user of nature magic or a powerful sentient natural power. Both hoped they were about to meet a human druid and not a living tree. The day was very young and they began to plan for the coming meeting. They cast many protection and ability enhancing spells. They also wove about them several spells for their _single word casting _ability. The principle was the same as a spell trigger, it allowed them to store a spell energized in their mind and release it with a single syllable word. They had strict limits as to the number and potency of spells they could store but the power came in very handy. When involved in sword play they could call on powers without actually casting. The skill was an after effect of their mental casting abilities.

They found proper shadows and concealed themselves, at times manipulating the lighting with a cantrip or two to conceal them in shadows. The final touch was the illusions. They waited until the being was very close and Jalen cast a strong illusionary image of the both of them. They appeared to be sitting between the trees, one sleeping the other keeping a loose watch.

They waited for a few moments and then a gold sparkle caught Kinara's eyes. A golden being appeared under a tree, it was trying to stay hidden from the illusionary figures. It looked liked an over grown elf, its scaly hide was golden and noticeable green patterns crisscrossed it. It had two thick dragon-like wings of the same coloring. It held no weapons save for its hands. Three inch talons erupted from its fingertips the moment it appeared. Its elven face had a look of mixed fear and hate.

He began a casting and his image appeared right before the illusion of the sleeping half Drow. Jalen appreciated the irony but Kinara was less prone to humor, she quickly had the Dragon or elf or whatever, sighted for a bolt of lightning to be cast with a single word.

"Wake UP! You dirty spies, Assansins!" the image of a Elfling was yelling and cursing.

Jalen manipulated the images and responded.

"Greetings being of the forest, we are but travelers and are spying on no one."

"Liars! Dirty filthy DROW liars! You came here to take revenge on me. you were in with that filthy human all along. He thought I didn't see him come here but I did! I followed him, and now you will all pay." The rant went on for a long time, Jalen had trouble keeping the smile away from his image; he had lost that battle a long time with his actual face.

As always the more somber Kinara did not take this threat in stride, she had her bow in her hand and Jalen could see the lightning sparks coming from her fingers, his lady love wanted to end the threat to them both as quickly as possible. Jalen's good humor lasted only as long as it took him to identify the source of the illusionary magic, the creature casting the spell looked to be a hard opponent to take down by sheer force.

"Pleas kind Elfling, we do not know who you are. We are truly guests in the forest and are indeed looking for a druid. Do you know were he is?" the image of Jalen held its hands up in a placating manner as it spoke. He snuck a look at the real Elfling hiding a few meters away and almost let a a gasp slip, the sheer confusion and hatred from the figure was astounding.

"You truly do not know who I am?" it asked, "If you mean me no harm then let fall your weapons, her too!" The Elfling was a little suspicious, Drow and Drow-kin were supposed to be alert and quick. The woman lying on the ground did not stir through the long, loud conversation.

Jalen and Kinara held a quick mental conference. Jalen could not have both images move at the same time but Kinara was not willing to loss track of the real creature.

"Is the woman hurt?" he asked, "Is she dead?"

"Not dead but unconscious." Jalen improvised. His imags loosened all its weapons and threw them to the ground. "See!" he added "I mean you no harm, now, why don't you sit down with me for a short talk, who are you? are there people hunting you?"

"The Elfling relaxed a bit but he did not release the illusion, he sat the figure down near the image of Jalen and began spreading his story of thievery and deceit. Jalen could hardly believe the being survived. It was very bizarre, the humanoid creature was sitting not 30 feet from them and it was reciting, through an image, the most fantastical tale of pain and misery, opening it's heart. This was the same creature that wanted to kill them not a minute ago, now he was embracing them as true friends. Kinara thought the thing was ridicules but she never let him out of her sight.

Shayen got to the last part of his story, his mood was good now, lighthearted and friendly, he told Jalen about the druid that was kind enough to let him stay at his grove and how he naturally never trusted him. Jalen was sure that before the Elfling knew about their approach he would have died for the druid, suddenly it hit him, at the beginning of the conversation Shayen said he tracked the druid here, that meant that the druid was watching them, with any luck he got there after they had cast the illusions and is was deceived as Shayen was.

"Shayen, you said you tracked Caleb here?"

"Yes!" the Elfling said with an easy smile. I was going to slay you all with my magic but I see that is not necessary now."

Kinara caught on and scanned the forest as thoroughly as she could without losing sight of the Elfling.

"Do you know where the druid is now?" Jalen did not notice the form that materialized Behind him but Kinara did, in a flash she brought her spell to flare in her hand which was pointed at the appearing figure. Jalen was distracted by the flash of Kinara's spells his vision blurred from the sudden flare and the phantom images were gone.

Shayen was shocked and awed, not only did these assassins, for he was again convinced of their 'true' identity, deceive him they were actually attacking his only friend. The man's loyalties and temper were as predictable as a summer storm.

The old man standing in front of Kinara did not seem the least bit concerned with the eminent death sparkling in her hands.

Caleb looked at the pair closely, he recognized them as half elves but their Drow origin did not register with him. He suspected the half elves colored their faces to have better concealment in the dark foliage. The quite standoff was brief, Jalen quickly returned to his senses and began the dialog he knew would decide the fate of the meeting.

"Good greetings great druid, we come seeking your aid and council." He motioned to Kinara to lower her hand; the skilled warrior fisted her open palm and allowed the magic to disperse. She brought her arms to her waist, fondling a hidden knife sheathed in her belt, a knife she knew could be lodged in the man's throat within a heart beat.

"Who are you half-elf? Why do you 'seek my council and aid'?" the old man's voice was as strong as the man appeared to be. His brown skin had a healthy shine to it and his broad shoulders truly made him a formidable figure. But as with all intelligent, experienced men, his eyes were his most striking feature. The green of the iris was as deep as the forest green, gold flaks mingled with it as with the eyes of gold elves.

Those eyes spoke of wisdom and mental fortitude. Jalen knew instantly that this was not a man to take lightly. He brought most of his "single word" spells to mind and smiled his most disarming smile.

"Our mission here has two parts. The first is personal; we are seeking a being of strong nature magic to enchant our armor against wooden weapons. The second is a mission of knowledge, we seek information of Mielikki, of her ways and temper."

Caleb was just about to speak but instead his face went pale and he dropped to his knees. The druid's eyes opened wide and he gasped, he collapsed on to the grass breathing heavily. The golden dragon-elf had appeared behind the druid, his blodied talons were flexing and he was again screaming," Conspiracy! Assassins!"

"Jalen! The druid" shouted Kinara as she launched her blade at the dragonelf. With an agtility she did not think the creature possessed he dodged the coming blade. The next thing to fly his way was her.

Her two blades shone with an icy blue light and they left a trail of frost in the humid air.

She thought to dispose of the postulant creature in a hurry and see to the condition of the druid but the thing was much more skilled than she had thought. He wove in and around her blades moving impossibly fast, the forest itself seemed to be aiding him. Branches slid to block Kinara's blades or to hide him, it took her several moments to realize the branches and barriers were sophisticated illusions, and a few more seconds to realize she had a spell to 'speed up' the fight. With a single word of power Kinara activated her haste spell.

The world around her seemed to slow and the creature appeared to have returned to normal speed. Yet still he was no easy match.

Kinara ducked the clawing hands, the small half elf was a third of the dragonelf's weight and her strength was no match for his. She was however a skilled wizard and an expert swordswoman. Kinara, still brandishing her frosted swords said another word of power. She ducked another powerful lunge from the creature and managed to score a hit on it's shoulder. The frost numbed his hand and made him winch. Kinara's speed and agility combined with her haste spell enabled her to score five more chilling hits on the things torso. The wounds were not bad but every hit drained more and more energy from the dragonelf. The creature was not done yet, he said a word of power and Kinara felt the earth tremble beneath her, she lost her balance but regained it as soon as she spotted the illusion, too slow!

With a short leap the humanoid held her by the throat and began squeezing the life out of her. Kinara was getting desperate, she had dropped both blades as the claws closed on her frail neck and now she felt the world slipping away. Next thing she knew she felt the grip on her throat slacken and the last thing she saw before blacking out was Jalen holding a heavy branch and standing over the fallen creature.

After discharging his wand of healing into the druid Jalen regarded the fight that was progressing behind him. He did not have a haste spell ready so he was not able to see it clearly, the blades and claws flew by so fast he did not have the faintest idea of who was wining. He trusted Kinara's skill and waited until things slowed down. The moment he saw his love being strangled by the dragonelf Jalen ran into the fray. Grabbing a branch, he bashed the thick, horned skull of the creature. After the thing fell Jalen examined Kinara and laid her down next to the sleeping druid. He tied the drgonelf securely and returned to Kinara just as she was coming back to her senses.

"Should we use the healing power of your wand too?" asked Jalen referring to the druid

"No! the forest is dangerous we might need to use them ourselves. He will be fine. The spell should give him enough energy to start the healing. Don't forget Jalen, he is a powerful priest. He will recover."

"And the big fellow there?"

"It's just a bump on the head and some small wounds, the icy blade seared them shut, there is no bleeding, he will wake with a head ache but not much more."

Jalen nodded.

"We need to find shelter, a peaceful place for the druid to rest. It might hasten his recovery."

He added, "The small caves we saw a few hundred feet back will do nicely. carry the elfling and I will handle the druid."

Kinara nodded and cast a feather weight spell on the creature, a few moments later they were resting quietly in the shelter of a small cave.

"This did not go as planed." Kinara's edgy tone made Jalen smile as they lay together on the cave floor. She was so unusual, he thought. At a crisis she had enough cool composure to chill a volcano but a minute later she could explode in anger just like…well, a volcano.

"We are alive." He said back in a calming voice. "The druid is now in our debt and the big one we met is an interestingly insane creature." Jalen was chuckling. He remembered the dragonelf's unusual behavior the same way he remembered any event, with dry, dark humor. "Maybe he'd like to join us." He said.

The look Kinara gave him brought a wide smile to his lips. He kissed her softly and mentally cast a spell that would wake him or her if one of the two guests in their cave woke up. He uttered the command word that activated the spell. Kinara was tired from the use of the haste spell, Jalen played a peaceful and pleasant tune on the flute-like hilt of his spell-sword and in a few moments they were both asleep.

The elfling woke first, after only three hours of rest. Jalen woke up and sat before him.

The creatures head was swollen from the hit he took from Jalen. The thing's arms and shoulders tightened as it tried to break free of the magical cord binding it.

"You should stop that now." Jalen said using his most charming voice, "The cord is linked to my life force it will only break at my command."

"Or you'r demise!" retorted the angry elfling while trying to kick Jalen's feet from under him. Luckily, the skilled half-drow secured the rope to an outcrop of rock immobilizing the creature almost completely.

"Why did you attack the druid?" asked Jalen working hard not to lose his disarming smile.

"He betrayed me, to you! filthy assassin!" it looked as if the elven face contorted even further and appeared even more draconic. Shayen turned his eyes away and bit his lip as if he regretted the outburst, Jalen was at a complete lose, the elfling's behavior was unpredictable to say the least.

"We are not after you friend." Jalen assured him, "If we were truly after you, wouldn't you be dead by now?" Jalen hoped he could reach the man again, as he did at the meeting place.

"I do not know your twisted ways!" the elfling snapped back.

"I am afraid he is slightly beyond words by now." The old druid had woken up.

"Jalen mentally cast a powerful sleep spell designed to effect even Drow elves and released it on the creature without showing a single sign of the action. The spell took effect immediately and the bound elfling fell to unconsciousness.

The druid smiled, the display of power from the young half-elf was impressive. He did not fear the young fighter-mage. The old man had dealt with many enemies and beings of malice, he felt no such aura coming from Jalen.

He looked at him again, this time with greater attention. There was something wrong, what was it? The skin tone! His eyes wide open; he viewed the stranger from a new perspective. There was no paint on the man's skin, the skin itself was a dusky grey, these were no mere Half-Elves! These were Half-Drow! The realization did not make him change his mind about Jalen. Half-Drow were rare in the north, but they were usually good at heart. Raised in human communities they were normally appalled by their evil heritage and turned to good early in life.

"Where are you from?" the old druid asked.

Jalen realized something too; the old man had finally caught on about their true identity.

He decided to maintain the attitude he had employed earlier, the truth would be as good as any story.

"We come from Waterdeep." He said

"Skullport, to be precise." Kinara came to Jalen's side and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"We are of the followers of Eilistraee, the goddess of dance and swordplay, the true goddess of the Drow, and we are on a mission." Kinara decided to lay the whole truth bare. It was something she learned early in life. Kind men react to truth as evil men do to power, it provokes cooperation. Kinara was sure she was dealing with a kind man.

"What mission, if I may ask?" the druid was interested as to what would make these subterranean beings to travel to his part of the High Forest.

"We seek a famous Dark-Elf, one who denied his evil heritage and now, in his way serves Mielikki. The Faithful of Eilistraee wish to introduce him to a worthy Drow goddess, we wish to offer him the acceptance of our order and the company of good natured Drow.

A chuckle escaped the old man. the phrase "Good Natured Drow" was an oxymoron in his world.

"We wish to learn of the man by learning of the goddess he serves" Jalen continued "We would also ask you for help in a more personal subject. We wish to enchant our armor and we need a druid's help." Jalen ended at that and rose to his feet, he took Kinara's hand and tried to find clues to the man's thoughts.

Caleb had never heard of the Drow goddess the couple spoke of, but the sincerity in their words was clear. He needed to think but more importantly he needed to communicate with his goddess.

"I thank you for saving my life. I am fit to travel now." Caleb rose and cringed as the pain in his back returned.

"I need to heal myself properly and think of the things you told me." I will return tomorrow. If you choose to leave this cave I would be able to find you. Yet, I ask you to keep Shayen company here. I am in no condition to carry him back to the grove. Will you stay?"

The spell swords exchanged a look and nodded. The druid nodded back and stepped out of the cave. They had just enough time to look back and see a bluebird fly away.

"Should we wake it?" asked Kinara.

"I don't know. And I think we should refer to _him_ as _he_ not _it_, it would help us in dealing with him" Said Jalen "do you know what species he belongs to?"

"He is an Elf of sorts, I think." Kinara stepped up to Shayen. She looked the Elfling over, even extending his wings.

The Elfling had a golden skin covered with thousands of tiny metal like scales, it's coloring was golden crisscrossed with intricate green markings. He appeared elflike in all but skin, size, and wings. His wings were quite impressive. An almost two meter wing span was neatly packed on his back hardly showing at all until spread.

The dragon wings looked very strong and Jalen remembered their speed. The examination took half an hour but it did not help them get any further in establishing the Elflings origins, he was simply too different.

"It's as if he is not of a single race but of many. I have never heard of a natural Dragon-gold elf- human mix." Jalen was very confused.

"Maybe He's not a natural being." Kinara speculated "he could be a magical creation, maybe a polymorphed being. We could check." She suggested.

"It would take all night, and most of tomorrow." Jalen replied.

"True, but we are waiting anyway. Also, I am more curious then tired." Her smile was infectious.

"Cut a piece of his hair and I will start the potion. I need a mushroom but I guess it won't be that difficult to find in a dank forest."

It took them an hour to get the potion ready and three more for the spell to take effect.

They now viewed the world through a spell known to very few. Its name was the Back-Time Spell. It allowed the user to retrace all spells cast on a target through his entire life time.

The information was highly confusing. The paranoid Elfling had cast countless misguiding spells on himself in the last year alone. It took them seven more hours to track through all of them to a time before that. Then they saw signs of druidic magic. The Time-Back recognized the spells as shape change spells, powerful dispels and all sorts of mind effecting spells most of them had no effect on the Elfling.

Before that, they saw a massive amount of direct damage spells, curses, and many other painful experiences. It took them twelve hours to sift through the entire assortment of spells the little fellow endured in the last six years of his life. They found the spell they were looking for after the thirteenth hour. Exhausted, they viewed the dark and powerful magic literally blend the life force of a wild elf the essence of a gold dragon and the body of a human they knew to have once been Tarence Fordcrosser. The spell transformed his face and wings, it enhanced his size and strength, it gave him magical powers and it also bound him to the cruel master that had cast the spell. They scanned the spell trying to see how the tendrils of force changed the man. The manner in which the Elfling acquired his magical power was far beyond their skill level. The physical changes were untraceable. They felt as if they were trying to separate the webbings of a thousand spiders whose webs have formed a giant ball of silk. Every thread they tracked was tied to ten they could barely see, the spell was near impossible to understand. The only things simple enough for them to see were the changes to the Elflings psyche. The spell itself had almost nothing to do with the Elflings memories. It formed a barrier they could collapse. The uncharacteristic behavior was a result of the Elflings new 'education'. The pain and suffering he endured at the hands of his master had left him unable to trust. Those effects they could do nothing to change.

It was late in the morning when they came out of the spell trance. They were thoroughly exhausted but they had devised the spell they needed to unblock Shayen's mind. They decided to wait for the druid; they had some questions before they would cast the spell.

Caleb tried communicating with his goddess during that night. The Lady of the Forest did not answer directly but after his praying he was surer of himself and his decisions.

He prayed to restore his missing spells and got ready for the coming day. He knew the task he would take upon himself will be a difficult one but he saw a way to solve a problem he had not believed posibble for over a year.

He took the form of a bird again and flew to the cave he had left the night before.

The half-drow were sitting at the front of the cave. One was sleeping the other standing still looking at the entrance. Jalen, the druid recognized him quickly, his dark hair and clothes made him almost invisible inside the poorly lit cave. The druid took human form and stepped inside the cave.

"Stop!" Jalen yelled, awakening Kinara.

The druid froze in place he had seen the duo's magical powers and waited patiently.

Jalen adjusted the shield spell to allow free entry to the life force of the druid. That way the identity of the man in front of them could be easily verified. He gestured to the druid to step forward while Kinara readied throwing dagger. Caleb stepped through the barrier without difficulty and the couple relaxed.

"Well met druid of the forest. Have you come to a conclusion?" Jalen asked the question with utter dignity and respect.

"I have decided to aid you. It will be my pleasure to enlighten you about Our Lady of The Forest." Caleb responded with an easy smile.

"And the enchantment?" Kinara asked.

"That depends on whether you indeed managed to help my young friend here." This time he did not smile.

"We can help him, in a fashion." Jalen walked over to the unconscious Elfling "We can't change his personality or even restore his physical form, but we can unlock his mind. We can release the memories of who he truly was before his change. What kind of being and person. It will bring him pain… to see how he had changed. But, we think it will also heal some of his paranoia and agitation. We wished to perform the spell with you present, it would be better for him to see you since he knew you before the change, didn't he?"

"Yes." The druid replied with a deep sadness. "He lived in this forest since his birth. When I came here to live out my last years in the peace of the forest I met him and befriended him. He was a druid too, but young, so young. I told him of my travels as a ranger of Mielikki and he was enchanted by my stories. He left one day and I did not see him for six years. When he came back he was as he is now, twisted and lost. I tried to undo the damage but the years of servitude to a very cruel master changed him profoundly. I released a bit of his mind enabled him to trust again but that only made it worst. He had two sets of ideals to live by and it drove him a bit mad. If you could restore his mind it will be more than enough for him to begin his way back to who he was." The hope and guilt in the old druid's eyes were enough to touch even Kinara's heart.

"Then we should begin as soon as possible." She said.

Jalen agreed and they sat the Elfling between them and began the casting.

They again saw the magical gate that blocked the Elfling's mind. It took their combined effort to break it. As soon as they did the threads of the spell reformed around themselves blocking any further change. But the dam was breached and the memories flooded out.

Jalen and Kinara emerged from their trance to see the Elfling in a fit. Screaming and tearing at his face and body. The long claws of his hands wounded him and the druid cast a quick spell to immobilize the Elfling. Shayen froze in mid scream, the terror on his face wounded Caleb and troubled the Spell-Swords.

"Shayen! you must calm down!" The old man said with a peace he did not feel.

"I know this is very hard for you but you must not hurt yourself."

The fire in the Elflings eyes was doused, if his face could move it would have mirrored his desperation. Caleb began a chant and soon after the wounds on Shayen's face and chest closed up.

He stroked the Elfling's face and broke the hold spell. Shayen collapsed on the ground and cried. He sobbed loudly and for a long time. Finally he looked up at the three people standing near him and said just two words "Kill me!" the pleading in his voice was heartbreaking, and Kinara was truly considering to end the poor creature's torment.

"No!" The druid's tone was fierce and uncompromising. "You do not deserve to spend your last days as a lost and tortured being. You need to live." The druid fell to his knees and pleaded with the crestfallen Elfling. "You can find happiness again. You can see the world as you had wanted to do in the past. This is not the end of your road it is just an unexpected turn."

Shayen looked at the druid and flexed his wings.

"Where can a monster like me go? I cannot stay in the forest and you know it. Everything I look at will remind me of what I was and am no more! And now I am a freak, an unnatural THING. Not elf nor human nor Dragon." Shayen curled his wings around him and began to sob again. The druid was left speechless. Fully aware that the words spoken were true. No animal befriended the Elfling since his return. Even the magical creatures of the forest rejected him.

"You could come with us. Experience the world anew! You will have a fresh start." Said Jalen. He looked at Kinara with a silent plea, a soft smile on his lips, his eyes spoke volumes.

She frowned. This was supposed to be our adventure, she thought to herself, Our great first step in the real world, a memory for us alone. Is this being that important? The last part was sent directly into Jalen's mind.

Shayen was stunned, slowly, hope could be seen on his golden face. A fresh start did not sound as bad as life in exile, or an end to life. He could feel the tension between the two Half-Drow and quickly changed his mind, he was not excepted, not truly.

"I cannot come with you. I am a hybrid, an abomination. A half creature has no place to roam the world." There was Finality in his words, and a bit of fatality.

Kinara heard those words, more importantly, she could hear their meaning. A half creature…they were all half creatures, all hybrids, all alone.

I guess his life is worthy, at least as worthy as mine, she thought.

"There is not a living thing on Toril without worth. Not even us hybrids." Kinara bent down to the sitting Elfling and held his hand, cupping his chin and looking into his golden eyes she said, "Life is what you make it. And friends are hard to come by. Don't let two good ones slip away."

Caleb looked on and was glad fate had brought two such as these to him. Shayen would go with them he was sure of that now. All he thought of at that moment was what he would need to enchant two leather armors against wooden weapons.


	6. The Pain

**Hello**

**As always I do not own the forgotten realms world deities or anything else here for that matter, please don't sue me.**

**This is the last chapter I had written down, hopefully it would not be another 4 months until the next one. For all of you curios I plan three more chapters before the tragic, funny, happy, sad, predictable, unforeseen ending of this story.**

**Hope you like it, please review and tell me what you think I could do better. **

**Chapter 6**

Their screams were like wine. Their pain was a sacrifice to the goddess of torture and torment. Kelebreth had the children watch as their fathers were brutally tortured and killed then she had the mothers watch as their first-borns were slaughtered in a bath of bloody carnage. The younger children also had the unfortunate pleasure to see their mothers die slowly before they were chained.

The pain was perfect, the sacrifice Sublime. Nine younger sons and daughters were left alive. The dying parents knew their living children will know great pain before dying much too young. In doing that the priestess of Lovitar made sure even death will give the elves no peace.

Eight of the nine children were secured in cages. Their hands were bound behind their backs in order to generate a severe discomfort. The chains were rigged with sharp spurs to cut at their gentle flesh. The ninth child, a male elf, almost an adult, was used as a play thing to a few of her clerics. Loviatar would be most proud. The Goddess had already granted her several more spells as a reward and she knew greater prizes await her after the children's sacrifice at the temple. She decided to cast one of the spells she was given to feel the power. The spell was true sight and it allowed the caster to see things as they truly were.

"Oh OH… now is a good time to go away". Shayen saw the evil clerics face flare as the illusion dissipated. What she saw was a cage holding not eight children but two dead half-elf clerics of Loviatar.

This was definitely a good time to go away, his flight was magically fast, and he was with Kinara in too short a time, too short a distance from the clerics camp.

Jalen heard the screaming elf as the couple came near the camp, after deciding the best way to free the children Jalen's role was to free the tortured elf. The couple took out the guards and put heavy sleep spells on most of the clerics. Jalen knew he could take out the three females tormenting the young elf. He crept to the clearing where the clerics played their evil game. The three women looked young, about Jalen's age. One wore deep red chain-mail, it looked as if it was painted in blood. she held a whip and was using it to slap the young elf's feet. The second was dressed in a grey mage's robes she looked on and laughed. She then threw a shocking spark at the youth that made him fall shuddering to the ground. The third was beautiful, too beautiful to be mortal.

Jalen guessed she had demon blood in her. A Tiefling that alluring can only be descendent from a succubus, a demon that can take the form of a desirable female or male to seduce the pure. She wore a white dress that fitted her perfectly, unblemished and perfect. The dress was more fitting on a merchant's daughter in a social event not a ruthless killer in the middle of a forest. She was composed and yet her face betrayed a certain lack of ease. "She can feel the silence spell I've set up" he thought, "this must happen now or not at all".

Jalen positioned himself behind the mage and strung his bow as quitly as the wind he loosed an arrow that took the warrior in the neck, a heart beat later his magical blades erupted from the chest and neck of the mage ending her life while still on her feet.

The Tiefling had time enough to draw a weapon and a wand. The two combatants faced each other. The woman began to talk but no sound escaped her throat. She bowed slightly and threw her wand at Jalen's feet. She smiled an innocent smile and a brilliant light blinded his sensitive eyes. He could feel the mace coming for his head. Jalen dodged to the left, the lightning quick move surprising the overconfident Tiefling and leaving her right side open. Both blades sunk deep into the woman's side pircing her heart and lung. Jalen's eyes cleared a second or two later, he saw the fabric of the dress mend itself and the blood vanishing from the silk. "Kinara might like this." He said and striped the dead woman. Two tiny bat wings protruded from her back, "I sure can spot a demon" he turned to the unconscious elf and cast a levitation spell on him. He lifted the boy and ran to the rendezvous point hoping Shayen's illusion held out.

The burly dragonelf cleared a path through the forest, 8 wide eyed, and very scared children close on his heels. Kinara was bringing up the rear constantly checking for signs of pursuit, and more importantly, Jalen. It took near half an hour for the trailing Jalen and his unconscious burden to reach them. The pair had no time to express their feeling and so they kept running.

The children said not a word, the shock of the destruction of their home and their capture kept them quite, even the fact that their rescuers appeared to be drow elves did not matter anymore.

Jalen felt the tingling of magic, tracking them. The evil priestesses were gaining on them, helped along by their leader's spells.

Those very spells are what attracted the pair to the destroyed village. The echo of mass use of magic was present, a loathsome ritual was held in the village that day, the killing and torturing of its people magnified it so, that the couple sensed it 10 miles away.

When they arrived at the killing ground they used Shayen's illusionary magic to disguise the fire they set to burn the bodies, after scattering the ashes the pair took to the two day old trail and arrived at the priests camp. The plan was a good one, Up to the point of escaping the pursuit.

Jalen cast yet another disguising spell and Shayen's illusions were working over time to try and lose the priestesses but luck and faith was against them.

"We need to leave this place, and fast." Said Kinara, what about the teleport spell?"

"We can't take all of them with it." Answered Jalen, we need…"

"To die?" the angry half-drow interrupted. "Jalen, if we don't use the spell we will all die, not just some of the children, all of them! and Shayen too."

"We can still try to out run them, maybe we can lose them in the forest."

"If we do not teleport they we will be upon us in 10 minutes" she spat back. "It must be now or we will have no time to cast!"

Jalen's mind was racing but he knew Kinara was right, they had no time to waste and he owed both his mate and Shayen a way out. The children… they will save as many as possible, at least some would make it, Goddess forgive me, at least some would make it.

He grabbed her wrist and stopped Shayen with a shout.

The two stood facing each other and put Shayen and all the children in between them. They did not know how powerful the spell would be or how many people it could carry and to what distance. Jalen would hold the rains of the spell and hurl Kinara and several of the children away, she would then pull at him and several more kids but the exact result would be a mystery until after the casting.

They began the long incantation, first assessing the direction they needed to teleport to, then finding the spot they wanted to reach, it was a spot near where they had entered the forest. nearly three days travel from their current location. Jalen unleashed the magic, pushing Kinara, Shayen and four of the youngest children to the spot. As soon as they vanished he felt as if he had a piece of elastic sap wrapped around his neck. The strain was tugging at him to jump away. Jalen could see the limit of the spell now. He could take three out of the five remaining children. He dammed his enchanted armor and supplies, if he had left them behind he could probably have taken one more child… Jalen broke.

He felt at that moment as if life will not be worth living if he left the two children to die, there was another way, he thought, I have no choice but too break a vow.

Jalen manipulated the spell and released the pressure from his neck, he attached the strand of power to the oldest child, the one he had saved from the three priestesses. Now I fight! The children vanished.

He was standing alone among the trees and a heart beat later four half elf clerics carrying whips were lashing at him from all directions.

"Goddess help me!" he cried. There was no answer. He rolled and got slashed on the shoulder by one of the barbed whips. This was all for you Goddess and I do not regret it, keep Kinara safe, help her cope with the lost, and help her forgive me, he intoned, dodging left and right trying to find an opening to strike one of the priestesses. He could feel a spell being cast on him. he tried to shake it off, but failed. He felt it penetrate his spell resistance and he lost all control of his limbs. Paralyzed he fell to the ground.

A foot turned him over to lie on his back. He could see a beautiful elf maiden standing over him. Her golden hair shone in the sun as her booted foot fell heavily on his face. The world went dark

Kinara noticed Jalen's absence in a heartbeat.

"No, Jalen… WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" she shrieked collapsing to her knees.

"He gave me the rains…" a soft voice said behind her. Weeping, Kinara turned; her eyes were red and puffy, "what?" she asked.

The elf child Jalen rescued rose shakily to his feet and walked over to her, his eyes cast down. His blond hair was matted to his face, his feet were so bloodied from the torture he could barley stand He raised his head to meet her gaze and his eyes showed a great wisdom beyond his years.

"He put the spell's focus on me." He said, "He let me carry the children because he knew he could not take all of them. I am gifted with Spell Sight, I Understand magic like it is plainly written in front of me. He gave me the spell, he sacrificed himself to save us." This he directed to the other children, he wanted them to know that these people, no matter what they looked like, were not going to harm them, at least that is what he hopped, The female looked so upset he could not predict what she'll do next.

"I know what he did. I felt the change in the spell." Kinara murmured as she walked away from the camp.

She sat down on a fallen tree, her face moving from hopelessness to determination.

"Shayen, come here" she called to the big Elfling.

"I am going to find him… take care of the children."

As saddened as he was Shayen knew he could not cope with this alone, he could not let Kinara leave the children with a monster such as him.

"I can't…" he said pleading "what if I lose control, you can't leave them with me."

"You will not lose control Shayen, and I am sorry to put you in this situation but Jalen is my life, I cant leave him back there." Kinara looked at the Dargonman with pleading eyes, understand! She cried silently, Help me! Shayen could not disappoint her. he put on a brave face and simply said "go."

Kinara made a quick casting and headed back to where she had come from, where her loved one was probably lying dead and bloodied on the ground.


	7. The Sacrifice

**This was a quick one, hope you like it, two more chapter and we close this "saga of magic Faith and Bla bla bla" never take yourself too seriously.**

**Don't own a single thing here not making any money, I'm not even writing this, you're not reading this and all is well in fairy land**

**Chapter 7 **

Kinara arrived at the place of the casting on the second night since she left Shayen to fend for the children. The small clearing was just a few hundreds of feet away. The dense bush made it hard to see into it. Kinara did not know what she hopped to find, a few dozen dead half elves and Jalen sitting calmly on a tree, probably. That wont be, she thought, prepare for the worst.

Silently gliding above giant tree roots and dodging behind massive tree trunks she arrived at the place where it all went wrong. She could see nothing. Not a body nor blood nor signs of struggle. There was not a trace of the fight. Kinara sat down on the ground and started crying. Life without him wasn't life at all, it was a poor imitation. Without Jalen's warmth and kindness she could not carry on. She cursed all half elves, including herself with the lot. Her incompetence, her weakness was one of the reasons Jalen will die.

"I failed you Jalen, but you failed me too." She said to the forest "You vowed to me, you bastard Child! You vowed to never leave! You swore it on the name of our goddess."

Kinara heard a soft rustle behind her.

"I don't remember that" said a soft female voice, glowing with warmth and understanding.

Kinara turned to see the most beautiful Drow female she had ever seen. She stood naked in the starlit clearance. The ten foot tall drow glowed with a silvery radiance. Her long silvery hair cascaded down her magnificent left shoulder covering her left breast. She held a word in front of her pointed at the ground and a soft light flowed over her right shoulder.

"Lady…" Kinara gasped as she threw herself on the ground near Eilistraee's feet. She was speechless! never had she hoped to meet her elusive goddess who had revealed herself to so few of her believers.

"Rise My Child! You Have No Time To Waste. Our Beloved Jalen Is About To Die."

"Help me goddess! Help me save him!" the mentioning of Jalen's name made Kinara shake her reverent silence.

"I Will Daughter, But I Want You To Know That This Comes At A Price. As We Speak The Elven Children You Have Rescued Are Threatened By Demons. If You Go To Them Now You Will Be Able To Save Them, But Jalen Dies." The goddess's face was companionate but the harsh realities of life clouded her every word. To help others was a main part of Eilistraee's dogma. But caring for her worshipers was even more important. She knew the choice made by this mortal could change the girl's life, but it was not the Goddess's choice to make. Free will is the right of all men, she thought, and everything has a price.

"If You Let Me Take You To Jalen Some Of The Children Will Die, And There Is No Guarantee You Will Save Your Love." She spoke those words with intention, every word set in iron.

"Jalen! Now please, I will deal with the children as soon as possible but I cannot live without him, he still has so much good to accomplish, we… we could cast the spell again, together and go to the children after I save him."

"The Choice Is Made" said the avatar of Eilistraee. The soft glow above her shoulder winked out and with it Kinara vanished.

"I Hope Their Love Is Strong" the goddess said to no one in particular. "The Price They Pay for it Is Great. Quile Valderon Must Be Told, Mystra May Want An Apology From The Church." With that the forest was bathed in silvery light. When the night birds reopened their eyes it was dark and empty.

Shayen swatted yet another demon, cracking its skull with a slash of his formidable claws. Like all the others Shayen had killed, this one too, dissolved into nothingness. Some of the other demons were busy dealing with his many illusions. There were over twenty of the grotesque imps, shayen had already killed seven and three were fighting images in their own minds, the others were either attacking the children or hanging back waiting for a better chance to strike at shayen. The older one, the one that Jalen saved was dealing with them, sweat running down his forehead and blood dripping from his nose he cast spell after spell at the demons. Bolts of energy, acid arrows and many other minor evocations and conjurations were shooting out from his fingertips. This was not an ordinary child, this young sorcerer had much potential, but he was losing the fight. Initially the demons crowded the massive Dragon man trying to bring him down first, but now, most were studying the young spell caster. As two more imps attacked him shayen was again separated from the young elf.

He turned to the fight and by the time the second imp dissolved it was too late. Three imps were leering over the dead body of the fallen elf child, tearing him apart.

Shayen charged the scene of the massacre; with a few quick swipes of his massive claws he ripped the three demons apart. He quickly finished the ones that were caught by his illusions.

There was no joy in his small victory, he had failed, only five of the children survived.

Kinara appeared at a very small clearing in the woods. In front of her, a door stood open and just inside it a stairway led underground. The building was covered in vegetation. It looked like an abandoned temple being retaken by the forest. The clergy of loviatar keep strange lodgings, she thought. Kinara started walking slowly down the stairs, keeping to the sides of the three meter wide stairway. In no time at all she felt the slight shift of a stair beneath her feet and the tingling of a cast spell. The bolt of lightning would have struck her in the chest had she not dropped quickly to the ground. Instead, the crackling lightning struck her shoulder, her innate resistance to magic helped her yet again and the bolt left not a mark on her.

Too close and too noisy, she thought. Kinara silently cast a spell for levitating, the gestures and runes needed fleeting through her mind as she took to the air, unlike Jalen she had never been able to access the innate magical powers of the Underdark Drow.

Sliding as silently as a ghost on the ceiling she came across the first two sentries. She cast a holding spell on the two half elven females. The magic took and held. The oblivious sentries didn't even see Kinara's blades as they sliced of both their heads. Blood splattered all over her, she didn't care, this was revenge, and this was justice. Kinara remembered her goddess' words, some of the children will die because of her, the only way she could live with that is to blame the deaths on these evil women. Kinara killed five more clerics on the way. A silent and efficient killer, just like the Underdark Drow, the spider queen's Drow, she thought. Every murder was more difficult. When she reached the last chamber, the one she hadn't looked at yet, she had had enough, the smell of the blood on her clothes was gagging her, and she needed to clean them, to rest from this bloodshed, to have jalen hold her until she fell asleep. The thought of her lover relit the fire in her. She put on a stoic expression, resigning to her role in this adventure. Kinara just hopped the Dark Maiden wouldn't judge her too harshly.

Jalen had never felt pain as purely before. Just pain, no other feeling, neither cold nor hot, piercing or blunt, it was pain in it's truest form. The Beautiful gold elf was using a rod of some sort. A group of initiates, students of pain, were gathered behind her, studying the chained Half drow. He was bound to a wooden X, hands and feet securely held on each pole of the X.

They had stripped his shirt and were applying the rod to different parts of his torso.

"…and this is the best point of the torso…" the golden beauty said to her students.

"Placing the Rod Of Torment to a subject's forehead delivers the pain in it's purest form, it is sometimes lethal since the body can go into shock…" jalen closed his eyes. He never knew when she might trigger the wand, she could position it and immediately start or wait a while, or remove it just to prod him a moment later in a different point. It had gone on for over a day now, and he was losing his nerves. He couldn't cast even the most simple of spells. His body was weakened and the food they gave him had a fogging effect. The only times he felt truly clear were when the rod was working, and then it was just pain, unbelievable pain.

She'll do it soon, he thought, I can't survive another one.

"I love you Jalen… forgive me." he could hear Kinara's voice in his mind, he knew it was too late now, he will never marry her, never have children with her… too late, and then came the hot excruciating pain.

She saw him strapped to the X, a gang of half elven faces was crowding him. Ten or more of the vile priests were standing around the gold elf that led the raiding party. The fire in Kinara burned and she put it to use. She threw a fire ball at the Gold elf's feet. The inferno blew the young Clerics to pieces but both jalen and the Elf survived, as she expected Jalen's resistance saved him from the violent blast and the bitch of an elf was no where kind enough to die quickly.

Kinara ignited her blades and charged into the burning room.

Kelbereth recovered quickly from her initial daze. The blast wounded her but she was still strong enough to deal with the charging Half Drow. The pain of young love is as pure as a parent's, Kelbereth knew that even if she died now her goddess would be pleased.

It took the enraged Kinara less then thirty seconds to impale the elf on her blades. The force of the blow combined with her anger and magic made the blade burst into a shower of sparks, spreading the gold elf's charred remains all over the room. In its center stood Kinara, her two blades were burning in a white hot flame. Jalen saw his lover standing ther, he smiled softly before his wounds took him away.


	8. The Betrayal

OK so we are trying really hard now, the temptation of a new project (the road to aglarond) beckons and I need to persevere, one more mile of writing… stay with me people, I love you better when you review.

Don't own FR settings bla bla read someone else's disclaimer (lady fellshot has a good one.)

**Chapter 8**

Kinara quickly picked up jalen's belongings all of his things were left in a closed box in the room he was tortured in. She found several healing potions which she quickly poured down his throat. The potions revitalized Jalen enough to walk out of the temple on his own two feet. Once they left the doorway Kinara led Jalen into the forest. They did not know where they were but a quick divination spell allowed Kinara to judge the distance from the location of the children.

They could make it using their teleportation spell. Kinara just hoped they were not too late to save them.

Jalen's ordeal made it impossible for him to cast any spells so Kinara set up camp to allow her lover time to rest and gain some strength. Every moment that went by was torture for her. She did not know the fate of Shayen and the children but the goddess would not lie to her. She knew there will be much sorrow in the time to come. She did not tell Jalen about her meeting with the goddess, nor did she tell him about the danger the children were in, we will deal with it when he is safe, she thought, when we are safe away from this hellish forest.

Jalen woke up invigorated, his time with the evil clerics, all of his personal pain, was nothing compared to the feeling of well being he had over saving the elves' lives. He watched Kinara as she prepared the ingredients necessary for the spell they were about to cast and he started wondering about the things Kinara was keeping from him. He knew his beloved partner too well not to notice that she was holding back something significant. We will deal with it later, he thought, Kinara will tell me when she is ready. As he watched her putting the finale touches to the casting circle he wondered about the child he had saved, how easily he had grasped the magic Jalen handed him on that day. He was anxious to see him again, to talk to a child so special, as special as he was when he was that age.

Shayen could see the soft glow of the spell before he noticed Jalen's form materialize on the grounds. The acrid smell of a wood fire clung to Shayen's skin, but that was nothing compared to the smell of burnt flesh. The funeral fires he set were not half a day cold when the couple arrived. He could see the look on Jalen's face as Kinara materialized near him, Relive, love, trust. The same trust Kinara placed in him, watch the children, she asked, and he failed.

Jalen could smell the foul smell of burnt flesh hanging everywhere around him. He saw Shayen walking slowly to him and Kinara, the dragon man was hurt, small slashes and puncture wounds were evident all over his scaly hide. Jalen looked over at Kinara, she was pale, afraid, but not surprised, Not at all surprised to see their friend wounded, and the children…

Jalen looked around, five, five children were around, to his recollection at least three of the remaining survivors of Kelberth's attack on the wood elf's village were too young to be wandering on their own…

The acrid smell, the wounds on Shayen it all made sense now… and Kinara was not surprised.

"Forgive me," Shayen said in barley a whisper as he walked over to the two Half Drow.

"Please forgive me, I tried my best, I killed over fifteen of the demons but they just kept coming… four… of the elven…" he could not finish the sentence. The couple's presence made it Impossible to speak, on one hand, his powerful friends were back, they could take charge, fix things, make them better. On the other hand, to admit his failure, to have to deal with the consequences, to be judged unworthy of their friendship… it was too much for the confused Dragonkin, he fell to his knees, muted by the emotional turmoil burning its way out of his chest.

A cool touch, a slender hand fell on his shoulder, he looked up and Jalen was there, comforting in his words and tone. Shayen couldn't understand those words but in his emotional state he did feel one thing, there was no incrimination in Jalen's voice, not for Shayen, not for his new friend.

Jalen was holding himself accountable, and a further look showed that he was holding Kinara responsible.

"…who did this?" the words registered in the distraught Dragonkin's mind. Kinara asked that question, her cool tones demanded a quick response.

"Imps." Shayen responded "over twenty of the foul beasts descended on us not a day ago."

While I slept, thought Jalen, while I recovered, while Kinara was helping me regain strength.

With every thought his rage grew, he felt cold inside, numb, betrayed to his very core.

It was my decision to let all the children escape, the two I saved by not jumping with the spell died, two more died because of… what? Kinara, is it really her fault? His blood was rushing, his heart pounding. It was my sacrifice to make, mine and mine alone! He thought rapidly, I was ready, I made the choice and she took it from me. She undid it. She undid it! he locked eyes with Shayen.

"Get the children ready, we leave as soon as we can. In two weeks I want to be in Silverymoon. The remaining children," and with that he directed a cold stare at Kinara's pale face, "Deserve a better chance, they will find it there, so The Goddess help me! I will find it there for them."

She did not talk to him, for two weeks, they did not exchange a word. Each caught up in his or her own world of remorse, of regret. The blood of so many young half elves at the temple was not an easy thing to wash away, not from her clothes or her sole. And the children… she was not heartless or selfish, though she knew that was what Jalen was thinking. She felt their loss as dearly as he did, but for her, true loss was harder. The loss of a loved one could never compare to the loss of a stranger. Her parents were lost to her, her mother, her only connection to her humanity, was killed by the clerics of Vhearun. She knew Jalen's parents also died in a similar way, but they died fighting, they died for a cause, and that was what their son remembered. His grief was doused by the notion of a noble death, for him, loss was an acceptable price, even if you deal it out to others, that was what he had to believe in. in order to love his dead parents he had to believe they died for a reason, that leaving him behind was necessary. That it was the right thing to do. That was the way he lived, and that, Kinara knew, will be the way he'll die. For Kinara loss was loss. It wasn't glorious, it wasn't necessary, it hurt. It hurt so much she would have preferred never to have loved at all. I'll fix it, she thought, I have to! I live for him I can't carry on like this. Then she saw the gates. The giant pearly white gates of the new district of Silverymoon were a thing of remarkable beauty. The tower and mansions she could see tower above the wall were wonderful.

Truly the Gem of The North, as the city was called, was an impressive city. The wall stretched for hundreds of yards to the east and west. Kinara could see the beautiful river Rauvin flow through the majestic city. It has been Jalen's dream to see this city, and even though I could reach out and touch him, I feel as if I am a million leagues away.

As they crested the hill and the city revealed itself to Jalen, Kinara, Shayen and the five surviving elven children, something awoke in Jalen's numb heart. Since he was a child he had wanted to see the famous city of poets, bards and magic. And for as long as he remembered he had wanted to see it with Kinara. And now the woman whom he had loved for so many years was standing next to him and he could not say a word to her. Every time he thought about apologizing or tried talking to her, the picture of the elven child he had rescued from the three priestess' would jump up at him, it would remind him of his failure, of the sacrifice he had made and his parents. That memory was hard but Jalen was not a fool, he knew a lot of the feelings he'd been having were connected to that faithful day his parents went on a mission and never returned. He felt a coward. He felt as if by failing to sacrifice himself for the greater good he had let down the memory of his parents, and he blamed her for it, he blamed Kinara. She was as craven as he if not more. She could not live without him, so in her selfishness she left the children, she left that boy to die so she wouldn't be alone. As he thought about it Jalen realized something, in a way he was happy about it. He was happy she came for him. He was glad he didn't die a tortured death, but instead got a new start. That realization made him feel even more a traitor. That realization numbed his heart again, he didn't say a word as the haggard company went up to the gates.


	9. The Stars and Moon

**Don't own the FR settings. **

**Please review I know it's a cliché but I can only get better if you tell me what I'm doing wrong. **

**Chapter 9**

The company was stopped at the gate, the officer of the watch, a lean yet fit human man in a bright silvery armor, asked them their business. Even before he spoke he alerted the guards, swords and bows were trained at the three adults mostly pointing at Shayen. His massive presence was threatening even though he carried an elven child on each of his shoulders. Kinara told the guard the whole story, starting with the children's tale and ending with their own personal need to see the Lady Alustriel.

"We are tired and hungry, these children have gone through a lot and need food and shelt…"

"stop." A kind voice stopped Kinara in mid sentence. A woman wearing brown robes, which identified her as a mage, walked out of the open gates.

"My name is Tiel," the woman said, her long brown hair was bound in a knot behind her head.

And her soft, warm brown eyes brought much comfort to Kinara's bruised and battered heart.

"My mother is the mistress of a safe house for orphans and runaway children. There aren't many elves there but I guess a few more won't bother her." The woman smiled and spoke a command word to the gate keeper. Bows were lowered and Tiel signaled the party to enter the City.

Kinara walked next to the short mage admiring the sights. Jalen had given Shayen his cape so the draconic elf could cover his wings, they walked near the children. During the two weeks the elves grew attached to Shayen, They called him Demon Killer, and they clung to him now in this frightening new setting. Jalen walked next to Shayen shielding the children and providing them with some comforting words. He had spoken to them before on his own tragedy, of how he had lost his parents young, how he was taken by the elven clerics of the Dark Maiden,

"I lived a good life," he told them again, "the people here are much the same as the ones who took me in. And you will always have each other. If you stay true friends you will always have a small piece of your home and families." He knew speaking of his past now would remind him of Kinara but he didn't care. He would make this small sacrifice of personal pain to give comfort for these children, he would have given his life…

Kinara watched as nobles and commoners walked the streets next to each other, showing mutual respect she had never seen anywhere else.

"Where do you hail from?" Tiel asked the astounded half drow.

"Waterdeep." Said the startled Kinara, though she came from the area of the great city she had never really toured it freely, only on assignment.

"You must mean Skullport." The woman said and smiled. The surprised Kinara raised a questioning eyebrow as she looked at the young mage.

"I recognize the Holy symbol of the Dark maiden. It's etched on the scabbards of your swords, you come from the secret temple, don't you? Don't look so shocked, I am a scholar of the elven pantheon." The woman said.

"We do, we have come in the hope of finding the ranger Drizzt Do'urden."

"Really? What does your temple need of the Drow ranger… Ohh."

"We have come to introduce ourselves, we are here to tell the ranger that he is not alone. We hope to convince him to travel to Waterdeep with us."

"You should see the lady Alustriel, it is rumored they are close friends. In fact, you are in luck. The lady is a personal friend of my mother. Once the children are cared for and they verify your story. I will take you to the Queen."

"Thank you. That would be wonderful."

Tiel wanted to hear about the Dragonman and the handsome Half Drow that accompanied the children but she felt a tangible force between the two fighters she walked with. Maybe later, she thought.

The children did not want to part with Shayen, they clung to his feet and cried as the three were heading for the door. Looking into their eyes Shayen realized he had found something he never thought he would find again, true acceptance.

"maybe I should stay with them for a while…" he said to Jalen and Kinara, "just for a short time."

The matron Meriel, Tiel's mother came over to them. "It could be very good for the children, to have a familiar face with them at least for the first few days. Also a man of his stature could help us with the house chores."

Shayen looked pleadingly at his two friends, they both spoke at the same time "stay." They said and quickly looked at each other. A cold look, thought Tiel, who was standing nearby.

"We should move" she said, she took Kinara by the elbow and led her out.

They walked for nearly three hours, slowly crossing the majestic city.

The trees and building entwined together creating a magnificent tapestry of architecture.

No two building were alike and it was clear that more then one was shaped through the magical arts, Arcane Divine or Silvan.

It's soothing, Shayen thought, comforting. It works so well together. He looked at the two women walking before him, they were talking softly. Not saying much but still holding a conversation. I loved her so much just a few days ago. Did it really all go away, just like that?

Probably not, he thought, as another beautiful work of art in the form of a treehome passed before him. It's covered over, it's covered over by pain and loss, just like Kinara's clothes are covered in bloodstains. I need time to come to grips with this, I hope she'll give it to me.

"I will stay with him till death!" Kinara whispered in a nonchalant voice to Tiel. "He still loves me, what we had can't be destroyed by this."

"What you had?" Tiel asked

"What we have, I meant to say what we have." Kinara said feeling even more despondent.

"Feelings this strong have a way of moving from one extremity to another, it's the dying down slowly you need to worry about. I feel the tension between you. What you need do is talk, Shout! Yell! Scream at each other! But talk first and talk last and have a conversation in the altogether."

"He won't talk to me…"

"Force him! I will leave you as we go into the palace, they will sit you in a private waiting room, no escape, just talking."

"Thank you. Maybe it could help." Kinara whispered back, "Tell me please, why are you so helpful? I don't mean to sound suspicious but we don't meet many who are so keen on helping another, outside the temple walls that is…"

"I lost my husband two years ago." She said with a half smile,"I loved him dearly and he died trying to save a caravan from a small horde of orcs. I have never felt worse pain, not even when I lost my father, but you must love them for who they are. He was chosen by the goddess of magic to serve as a holy warrior, He was my paladin in shining armor. And he died on a mission. If you asked me; would you have done anything to save him? I would say yes! But, if you ask me would I have forbidden him to go? I would say no! Firstly, because the stubborn oaf would never have listened" both women were tearing a bit and only a small giggle managed to escape their lips, "but also because that would not be fitting for the man I love. Do you see? I could feel your pain from the second I saw you, I know it well."

Kinara held Tiel's hand as the two walked for twenty more minutes to the entrance of the palace grounds. Tiel spoke with the guard and they were let in.

A steward met them on their way to the inner sanctum of the massive structure.

"I will leave these fighters to clean up and Take you, madam Tiel to see the head steward.

"That would be fine, Arthur thank you."

"By all means madam."

"They walked through the warm palace. red carpets and elven paintings draped the walls. The white marble floor was glistening. In less than five minutes Arthur led Jalen and Kinara to a waiting room and left them inside to clean up and rest for a while.

Jalen took off his shirt and walked over to the washing basin to clean up as best he could. Kinara's clothes were covered in blood stains, a grim reminder of her killings in the temple of Loviatar. She had tried to wash them off but couldn't. yet another burden I carry for him. Must I carry all of our burdens? The thought rose in her head. She was about to unclasp her scabbard, but in an almost unconscious move she drew a blade. Jalen turned just in time to duck.

Kinara pounded into the dazed Half-Drow. Striking again and again, Jalen was dodging her efforts with some success but he was already nicked.

He rolled under her seeking blade and drew one of his own blades.

He didn't think, neither of them did. A sort of blood frenzy came over them. All the frustration of the last two weeks came flooding to the surface and they channeled it the only way the knew how.

The two blades rose and fell in perfect harmony, perfectly matching the moves of the two combatants. The 70 centimeter long slightly curved blades wove together to create a spectacular shimmering dance of reflected light. The clang of metal on metal was alike to the sound of well tuned bells. The flutes that comprised the hilts of the two blades whistled a fast pace melody matching the guiding beat of metallic clashes. The sword dance, the one they had trained in for most of their life flooded to the surface. The moves came naturally with just the one blade, it was the dance the way it was meant to be danced.

It was not as fast or as spectacular as it was when they fought with four blades but it had better rhythm, it flowed better it, was Eilistraee.

Jalen broke away from the fixed moves first, his anger was too great, and it was too soon.

He ducked away and positioned himself before his dark companion.

"What is it you want Jalen?" asked Kinara "Do you want to kill me? Do you want me to kill you?" he didn't answer.

"Talk to me damn you!" she shouted at him.

"You undid my sacrifice, you betrayed me!" He said softly.

"I am not the one in this room carrying a broken Vow!"

"It was a vow you knew I could not keep."

"Then you should not have spoken it." She replied charging.

Jalen's blade intercepted her thrust, he swepped it downwards and turned trying to land a head shot but Kinara had already ducked, and quicker then he had anticipated, she jabbed the tip of her sword into the back of Jalen's thigh. Jalen jumped on his good leg, he stopped his spin and came crashing down on Kinara's head.

The two dazed fighters fell next to each other and in a heartbeat both had blades touching each other's throats.

"A vow is a Vow My love, it was the goddess that sent me to you. She knew that if I went, some of the children would die but she felt it was a legitimate decision."

"YOU LIE!" he shouted

"YOU KNOW BETTER!" She replied.

Both blades dropped almost simultaneously.

She sat down next to him. "Maybe you will understand someday that your life is not something to just throw away on every cause. Maybe you will see what the Goddess and I have seen for all of your life. You are so special Jalen. You are my stars and moon, and I will do everything I can to save you, but, I will never again stand between you and a mission. I know you, my dearest fool, you are too stubborn to hear me."

"The Goddess told you to save me?"

"She gave me the choice, gave me the burden. It was a heavy price and I chose to pay it, and so did she. The lost lives of the elven children lies on all of us. Neither you nor I hold all the blame, you can't control everything. "

"No Kinara, you can't. You do understand that, don't you?" he replied, "There will come a time when one of us will Die. You will not be able to prevent it, and I will not live a sheltered life to make sure it never happens."

"I know." She replied. Something in her tone had changed, it had a maturity and a hint of acceptance that Jalen had never heard while discussing this subject. He was happier now. He could live with this compromise, and the goddess approved of him being alive. Which meant his, parents would also approve. One of the burdens of the last two weeks had been lifted, the second, the actual loss of the children, would stay with him forever.

Kinara looked expectantly at Jalen with a finale plea of forgiveness.

Jalen smiled at her.

"I seem to be bleeding on this lovely carpet, could you heal me?"

Teary eyed Kinara nodded, she laid her hand over his, and picking up her wand cured his wounds.

They talked for an hour before the steward came for them. It wasn't simple to erase all the feelings of the last two weeks but they were close, very close.


	10. The Last Leg

_**This is it. The final curtain. The end of two years work (not in one go of course I have a life to live) criticize away.**_

_**I will probably write sequels. Maybe… could be,,,**_

**Chapter 10**

The steward walked in to find a very naked Kinara washing her clothes in the small basin filled with water. He quickly turned and without a hint of discomfort inquired if the young women would require a dress?

Jalen quickly remembered he had one in his bag, he quickly drew out the white gown he had taken from the pretty tiefling cleric of Loviatar.

"Here." He told Kinara and the steward both, "I have something for her. If you could return in a few moments more we will be ready."

"Very well sir." He said and left.

"What is that?" asked the half drow as she took the cloth bundle from Jalen's hand and spread it out. The light fabric was smooth and pleasing. And the cut of the gown was a splendid thing.

"I took it off a cleric, she had no use for it anymore, and I thought you might like it."

"Thanks Jalen." It did not bother the kindly half drow that the gown once belonged to an evil cleric killed by the man who bestowed it to her now. when you are brought up in Skullport you learn to take what life gives you, even when it is given with the life of an enemy.

"Put it on, it mends itself and stays clean. Even blood doesn't stain it."

Kinara gave him a surprisingly serious look "Blood should stain everything Jalen." She said quietly "If ever I should loose track of that while wearing this dress… "

"I'll be here to remind you, Kinara. I'll try anyway."

The beautiful sorceress nodded and put the dress on. She could feel the magical fabric hug her fit body. The dress resized itself, blossoming and narrowing in all of the places it mattered until Kinara felt it was tailored made for her. She threw her mind into the fabric, she tried tracking the enchantment like she did with all magical objects.

Interesting, she thought to herself as she discovered the part of the spell the dress used to change shape. She poured a bit of her own magical power into the dress and waited for the change she had asked.

Jalen saw Kinara concentrate and than the dress changed. The color turned into a rich cream shade and the sleeves shortened. The skirt parted and hugged Kinara's legs as pants do, it than parted again and grew a second layer of fabric to create a fluffier hem. The dress changed shapes a few time as Kinara scrutinized herself at the mirror. She finally settled on a sleevless dark red and brown, tight fitting dress with a teardrop cleavage. She looked spectacular.

"How is this? Elegant enough to meet a queen?"

"Elegant enough to meet a goddess." Jalen replied.

"Last time I did that I was in my leathers." They shared a bitter sweet smile and went out to wait for the steward.

The throne room was not the extravagant thing they thought they would find. The simple designs and lack of elaborate furniture only made the lady Alustriel shine even brighter.

She wore a long white dress adorned with golden leaf patterns. Around her neck hung a single bright pink jewel festooned by a silver chain. She was the epitome of human beauty, and for the first time in her life Kinara felt physically inferior to a full human.

Jalen looked over to his partner, yes, he thought, partners again, and reading the expression on her face whispered to her in a soft voice.

"Just remember that she is the daughter of a goddess."

It took Kinara a few moments to make sense of Jalen's comment but she threw an impish smile his way and the couple walked over to stand before the Lady of silverymoon.

They bowed before the lady drawing a blade and placing it at her feet.

"Please rise, I am no queen, and do not require a pledge of allegiance from all who seek my council."

The two warriors rose, a bit embarrassed, and sheathed their magnificent blades.

"I am told you were sent by my sister, you seek a safe way to enter Mithril Hall, is that correct?"

"Yes it is, Lady." Jalen replied. "We were sent by the church of Eilistraee to locate the dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden and bring him into the fold."

"And if he refuses to go with you?"

"We will convince him." Kinara said simply, "We do not wish him to turn cleric, we just feel it our duty to inform him of Drow elves living on the surface, drow elves of kind heart and a way of life that matches his own. Lady may ask a question?"

"Go ahead." Alustriel replied a strange look crossing her beautiful face.

"You have known of the temple, Eilistraee and Quile, our High Priestess, for a long time now. Why have you never spoken of it with the ranger?"

Alustriel took a while to respond and when she did it looked as if she had asked that question of herself a time or two before.

"It was never an appropriate time. Drizzt felt whole with himself and his Goddess of choice, Mielliki was good for the ranger and I did not want to confuse him. In many ways he is still a child trying to realize were he fits into the world."

"I do not believe you." Said Jalen. The room went quite, a few of Alustriel's councilors gasped.

"I was brought up by Drow elves I can spot a lie even before it is uttered. The lies of Vhearun and Loth are much more complex than yours are. Forgive my bluntness lady, but what is the real reason?

Alustriel looked at the two Half drow with a quite anger and new appreciation.

"What have you been doing for the last twenty years young ones?"

"What do you mean Lady? Jalen asked.

"What has taken the bulk of your time, what war have you been fighting, how many drow have you killed in the last ten years, can you count? Drizzt despises the killing of his own kind. At least he did for the past decade or two." There was no anger in her voice but a hint of admonition was evident.

"If I had told Drizzt of your temple, your goddess, your war, but a few years back, he would have shunned you forever as keen slayers. He would have refused to speak with you, and considered you no better than the spider queen that ordered his fathers death. Things have changed with the ranger lately. the attack on mithril Hall, the loss of one of his best friends, and his ordeal in the Underdark had changed the naïve elf. It hardened him a bit, chipped his endlessly kind heart with the axe of practicality. Now and only now has it become a good time to discuss your temple and order with the ranger. I agree with my sister, it is time the ranger knew of this part of his heritage also. It may ease his heart a bit."

The stunned half drow had never considered what they did was so awful. It was but life, the priests of Vhaerun prayed on their homes and communities, they defended themselves and those of similar belief. The war was a necessary thing. Eilistraee said, deal with those in need with compassion but show no mercy to those who wish to do harm.

"I will send a messenger to King Battlehammer. I will inform him of everything in a letter and we will teleport you to Mithril Hall within a day. I do this only because I trust the messengers of my sister; do not fail her, or me."

"Thank you lady, we will not fail." replied Kinara. The couple bowed and left the throne room.

Tiel was waiting for them outside. Seeing the way the couple was talking she could see they had managed to deal with more then just the lady of Silverymoon.

"so…?" she asked expectantly.

"We will be teleported to Mithril Hall within a day. It will be fine, I hope." Kinara answered and looked fondly at her dark companion, that sentence answered Tiel's question in full.

"You are sure this is what you want?" Jalen asked Shayen.

"Yes! these children need me, and this town is so tolerant of my… condition. I could find no better place to live." the dragon man replied. "It is even possible that with enough research one of the powerful mages of this city could find a way to turn me back to my natural form."

"Well than my friend, if we are ever again in this fine city we will find you."

"I hope you do." Shayen said and hugged both Kinara and Jalen, he whispered in Kinara's ear one last apology, he still felt responsible for the lost children. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and ran her hand down his face.

"You are a good man, my friend. May you find only joy from now on."

"Thank you Kinara, I wish the same for you, both of you."

They hugged one last time and the Spell Swords turned around and walked to the palace grounds.

This city was without a doubt simply beautiful. No two buildings were alike and magic was everywhere. Both half drow sorcerers felt the magic flow through them. The mythal was the most obvious of these magical influences. Created by the same forces that forged the fabled elven city of Myth Drannor the distinctly elven magic that comprised the mythal sang in the ears of the two half drow as they made their way to the palace.

"Can you feel it?" Kinara asked.

"It's like hearing honey."

"Yea, I know what you mean." She answered in a dreamy voice relishing the feeling. "When we came here last time I was so preoccupied with everything, but now…"

"This truly is a beautiful place" Jalen said and took hold of Kinara's hand.

She smiled fondly at him and pressed her shoulder to his as they walked.

The slow walk was so pleasant It took them several hours to reach the spot where they were told to meet with the wizard who was to teleport them to Mithril Hall.

"When the ranger is safe with our priestesses we will return here. From a different path maybe," he smiled "but we will return."

"As soon as we can" replied the beautiful half drow at his side.

"I see you have arrived at last." A familiar voice sounded from behind them. The couple quickly turned awe struck to see the lady of silverymoon wearing soft brown leathers suited for the road.

"Please save those shocked faces for another, I was adventuring the realms since before you were born." The Lady of Silverymoon told them. It seemed as if her entire demeanor had changed. She was no longer the overburdened monarch of a realm, but instead the care free adventurer her clothing suggested her to be.

It seemed to Kinara her mood was far better in this role.

"As I had promised you, a powerful Wizard will transport you to the dwarven kingdom. I have some business to discuss with King Battlehammer, so that wizard might as well be me. This will lessen the chances of you being killed on the spot considerably." She said with a teasing note.

"We will enjoy your company lady. And we thank you again for your help." Kinara replied.

"As I have said before I trust Quile's judgment. The Chosen of Mystra seldom err." She said with as much sincerity as sarcasm.

"We will teleport to a specially prepared room in but moments. The king will be waiting for me there and you will be escorted to meet with the ranger. He was not told of your coming. The king did not know how to break it to him, prepare yourselves."

The couple, familiar with magical journey, took a deep breadth closed their eyes and opened up to the magic that slowly rose from the powerful ruler of Silverymoon.

They appeared at a highly decorated room. The walls were the most spectacular thing about it. Polished to a bright sheen the walls were streaked with a silvery metal that could only be the precious mithril the cavern was named after.

Three dwarves stood in the room. They were all dressed the same and their powerfully built bodies did not top 4 feet but they were easily just as wide. They were powerfully built for combat and labor in the limiting conditions of a cave. Jalen wondered how many Drow fell to the mighty axe strapped to the kings back.

"Tis good to see ya Lady. But I'm fearin I wont be likin what you have to say." Bruenor battlehammer said as he approached Alustriel and gently took her hand.

"We will have time to discuss this in private. First let me introduce to you these fine young people. These are Jalen and Kinara, of Eilistraee. As we discussed they are no threat and… well you know the rest."

"Ya wish to talk to the elf?" bruenor said as he quickly surveyed their faces and equipment. "You sure about this?" he asked Alustriel again.

"No, but I do think it should happen. Drizzt has a right to know all the pieces of his heritage. Not just the dark parts." She replied calmly.

"Right ya are. Filber," bruenor turned to the dwarf next to him. "Lead these two to where the elf is training."

"Aye bruenor!" the dwarf replied "follow me you too, and no monkey business!" he said and tapped the two hand axes strapped to his belt. Clearly even the assurance of Alustriel was slow in tempering the suspicious nature of these dwarfs.

They were led up a steep incline and soon they could feel the air was lighter, fresher. It wasn't much later when they saw the opening.

"The elf be training over there. Don't spook him, he's not a good fellow to startle." the dwarf said with a prideful grin and left.

Kinara and Jalen walked out the gate to see two people fighting. The one was clearly the drow ranger they were looking for. His white hair was tied securely as he spun and jabbed with a beautiful scimitar at an even more beautiful woman carrying a magnificent red glowing sword.

They were both good. But it was clear the Drow was a grandmaster. The two spellswords watched as his single blade kept both dagger and sword away, in moments he had two such blades pounding the woman's sword, striking many small hits with the flat of his blade.

His rapid style of fighting was very much like their own but the couple was humbled by this almost peerless warrior.

The battle would stop occasionally as the drow instructed the woman on a better parrying technique or the timing of her counters.

"He truly is a fine swordsman. He will bring much joy and honor to the dark maiden."

"yes" answered Kinara. She was preoccupied with a different aspect of the scene in front of her. There was sexual tension between the fighters. The kind that stems from deep emotion and not lust. More half breeds in service of Eilistraee? Perhaps. If we play our cards right. The thought brought a smile to her face. She took Jalen's hand and whispered to him.

"I think it's time."

Jalen nodded "should we start with theology? give him the background and history of our Dark Maiden? Or will it be better to start with dogma and build from there.

Kinara rolled her eyes and looked at the nervous Half Elf she loved so deeply.  
"I think we should star with, hallo." She said

The End


End file.
